The Hunt
by MidnightMoonWarrior
Summary: The girls are fed up. So what do they do? Disappear into thin air without warning. Reactions from the guys? Panic. How to find them? Do one of the most masculine activities known of: Hunt. Finding them wouldn't be easy, but they knew they had to try.
1. Leaving

Helllooooo!

I don't own any ranger teams mentioned….this would have been an episode if I did!

Please R2 (Read and Review) and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

Also:

-The ninjas still have their powers

-Daggeron has joined the mystics, but not Leanbow

-Trent is no longer evil, Dr. O is involved

-This has nothing to do with the plot of Trust no one; none of the characters are included.

ANN: I have no idea where Blue bay, Reefside, or Briarwood is…please tell me! It would be great to know a general location…or I will assume they are all in California. Yes I know they don't actually exist, but where would they?

ANYWAY!

I hope you enjoy ;)

* * *

She was having a bad day.

Moving through the forest at top speed she thought of all the things she was going to say. Rarely did she get angry, but the few times she was peeved off…as Shane described it once as the time to head for the hills, it was like a full blown Tsunami. Water was her element, calm and collected, but still able to unleash hell.

Entering Ninja Ops, the aura of the space was like it usually was. Happy and relaxed, the people still ready for action. Cam was typing on the computer, cyber Cam and Sensei looking over his shoulder. The alpha males were arguing again, with Blake watching on the side lines. The air was light; there was no hint of her hidden rage.

Then Dustin met her gaze and boy did she glare. His eyes went wide, he knew that stare.

"Hi" The male she considered her little brother squeaked

Which in translation actually meant RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

The single word halted every action going on in the room, all eyes went to her. Shane's eyes matched the yellow ranger's as did Cam's, poor thunders she thought….they had no idea what was coming.

"Hi?" She hissed "That's all you have to say?"

"Tor…" The dark haired red stepped forward, knowing that it was time to shut down the situation or hide.

The energy swelled inside her, the wave was going to crash soon "Don't Tor me! Just tell me why you did it?"

"Um…we thought it would be funny" Hunter mumbled, knowing that he was in trouble

Her patience was snapped, the wave broke.

"YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY!" The blue ranger roared taking a step forward

"Look, Tori, I'm sorry" Taking his big brother role that he had assumed since they had met, Shane sincerely looked in to her eyes and spoke the sentence. But it didn't matter, they were drowning.

"Like it matters, you don't care."

All jaws dropped, she mentally smiled. The words were worse than being yelled at, the thought that she thought they didn't cared would kill them.

"Tori…" Blake sputtered, he had no idea what had brought this upon them, but he didn't care. She thought they…which was completely false. He cared, more than she knew.

"It's a game you play to keep me around, you never cared." Although she knew this to be false, she heard their hearts break. Turning to march out, she heard their last attempts to reach her.

"Wait!" Dustin stood to prepare to rush at her

"Tori" Cam spun in his chair, ready to the same

"We didn't mean…" Hunter ran off, pure regret in his eyes

"We never meant…" Shane took from his fellow red's sentence, but it was filled with guilt instead

She said nothing, torturing them more.

"I don't know what they did…" Blake paused, to gather the right words "But can't we talk about it?"

Normally she would have turned and respected his request, but there was no turning back.

"Find your own ride home"

With the sentence she streaked away from them, far away. No footsteps were heard following; they were most likely in shock. She just couldn't take them anymore, but where to go?

"_If you need anything…" _

A smile came to her face, as she ran closer to the place where a female ally was.

* * *

Anger was rising in another being, she was pissed; there was no other way to explain it.

Not caring about the consequences, slamming the door open with enough force to rip it off its hinges. She glared at the customers in the music store before narrowing in on a specific target.

"XANDER!" She bellowed, making the male jump out of his skin

"V-v….w-what's u-up?" Rarely did the green ranger stutter, only when he was faced with her unmistakable anger.

"Don't ask me what's up! Tell me you didn't say it and I'll go away!" Grabbing hold of his collar, she was tempted to throw him across the room.

"I…NICK!" She turned for a moment to see another target of hers; the red ranger stood staring for a moment, when Xander kept yelling "CHIP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

And then there came Chip, bounding out of nowhere to the rescue, in a cape of course. Weighing his chances, Nick also decided to assist. The leader of their team grabbed her, while the goofy yellow grabbed her intended victim. Struggling against the fire boy, she growled like an animal. He had managed to pull her off of him, which was amazing considering she had a iron grip.

"Vida, what is going on? Nick demanded, connected eyes with her for a moment

Then she broke away to hiss at Xander "Did you or did you not?"

All three males' eyes went wide; they were in on it too. She took the moment of shock to break away from Nick to catapult herself towards the earth ranger. He saw her coming and dodged. She was about to give chase when, lucky for Xander, Toby intervened.

"Any reason you are chasing Xander?" She hissed in irritation in his direction, she wanted to kill all three of her teammates not talk to her boss

"Let's just say that some things said about how worthless women are were said in my _sister's presence!_" She yelled the last part; no one messed with her sister and got away with it. Mother bear syndrome also applied to siblings it seemed.

"She was there?" Chip squeaked, he knew they were screwed

"YES SHE WAS!" She didn't care that there were customers, no one made her sister cry "DO YOU KNOW WHERE SHE IS NOW?"

"Um…no" Xander swallowed; being careful to keep his voice as non threatening as possible. From experience he knew the best way to deal wit Vida in this state was to ride it out and hope that you were still standing when it was all over.

"She is in my room crying, where she had been all day. She has been crying all day" She said in deathly cold voice, their eyes went wider

"She…" Nick ran off, he had never wanted this.

"I FOUND HER CRYING HER EYES OUT, DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT MADE ME FEEL!" Vida roared, wondering if a punch to the mouth each would fix it.

"Mad?" All three feebly suggested

She just stared, they didn't care that they had broken her sister; they just wanted to believe it never happened.

"No…" She paused "I felt horrible that I believed my friends' were better than that, that I had trusted the three of you!" With that she turned and walked away.

Her walk up the street then turned to a run…a sprint. Finding her house, she went upstairs to where she had left her sister. Stuffing clothes into a bag, she attracted her sister's attention.

"What are you doing?"

The small voice made her turn to stop her packing for the moment. Trails of tears still littered her cheeks, her eyes red. No one hurt her sister, she made her decision.

"We are leaving, going on a vacation" Madison nodded, beginning to pack what looked like an overnight bag.

She finished quickly, going to grab something; her hand brushed a picture frame. It knocked over, out of habit she picked it back up. It was the five of them, hanging all over each other with wide smiles.

They thought that she and her sister's were useless, after all that's what Maddie had heard.

You think we are useless? She thought with bitterness rising up in her

Gathering her bag, holding her sister's hand, they exited the house to climb into her car. It wasn't the best car, but it would get them to where they were going. She remembered the offer…

"_If you need anything…" _

Driving down the road, she knew that it was better that they were going.

You think we are useless? She gripped the steering wheel enough to make her knuckles white…

Then try living without us.

* * *

He was in shock, as were they.

The navy ranger turned to look at his teammates. He focused on his brother, who had a look of regret, like he had…wait, the other wind rangers had the same look. He felt the anger rise in him as he asked the question.

"What the hell did you guys do?"

* * *

He stared at his students.

Taking a breath he looked at their expressions of regret, guilt, and sorrow.

"Tell me again, what happened?" Daggeron asked

The three rangers had flown into Root Core, demanding to know if either of the sisters were here. He replied no, was something wrong? The answer had taken twenty minutes to get out and that was in mumbled words that he could barely heard, let alone understand.

Nick shuffled a little before meeting his gaze "Well…"

* * *

Reviews? Please!

So what did the guys do?

And where are the girls going?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	2. Misunderstanding

Hi! Welcome to chapter two!

I don't own any ranger teams mentioned….the mystics would have met other teams!

Please R2 (Read and Review) and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: I have decided to make Briarwood, Blue bay Harbor, and Reefside in California…if you believe they are somewhere else, then tell me!

ANN: Although this may not be correct in the timeline, or maybe it is? Anyway, all three teams have their powers and can morph…yes, I know that Ninjas and Dinos lost their powers, but I thought the story would be more interesting this way.

ANYWAY!

I hope you enjoy ;)

* * *

"Well what?"

It was obvious from their looks of guilt that something had happen. His tone turned harsher, how had they hurt the girls? Knowing that none of the three in front of him would never physically hurt the sisters, it had to be emotional. His student's eyes were glued to the ground, before a soul lifted his eyes to meet his gaze.

"We were at the music shop…"

_Bad day, bad mood. _

_That's how it was working today; he was having a bad day so his mood was even crummier. The day hadn't started off bad…no, that started when his feet hit the floor. Between the time he had gotten up to the time he arrived at work he had stepped on the cat, took a sip of sour milk, had his motorcycle break down, it had started to rain, and to top it all off he had arrived to a store full of customers just as grumpy as him. _

_The rain poured outside, the store had emptied. _

_He growled in irritation at the Cds he was stacking, why was there so many of them? _

"_Rough day mate?" Appearing by his side was the lazy green teammate of his _

"_No, this is my happy face" He hissed in response _

"_Right…" Xander snorted, throwing the magazine he had been reading into a random chair "…so what's got the big red upset?" _

"_Nothing" Like he was going to accept that, a sigh escaped his mouth. _

_But before that could happen, there was Chip. _

"_Hi!" The orange haired teen bounced towards them, with a girl with him _

"_Who's this?" The attention of the earth ranger was off him for a moment, turning to the female _

"_I'm Ava" Two eyes went to him, oh great. _

_Shyly she pushed a brown hair from her eyes, before smiling at him. He really wasn't in the mood for the flirting that was about to begin. Trying to avoid the inevitable, he left the group to walk to the back. Hopefully she wouldn't…_

"_So what's your name?" _

…_follow. _

_Damn it. _

"_Nick" He randomly started sorting the first thing he got his hands on, records. _

"_Cool" She said calmly, but he could hear the internal giggle from here _

_Leave me alone, he thought, go away. She stood there, he felt her eyes glancing over, giving him a full overlook. He really wanted to snap at her, but that wouldn't be nice…_

"_So do you like working here?" _

_God help me…_

_Then entered Xander, who he promptly locked eyes with. Help me! He silently screamed. _

"_Ava, Toby wants to meet you" Her face fell; he blew a sigh of relief as she left, but not before playfully waving at him. _

_Rubbing his temples, he wondered if it would be worth faking an injury to go home. Fake monster attack…the store was burned to the ground with a helpless worker inside, Nick was never heard from again. Just live at Rootcore the rest of his life…_

"_Earth to Nick!" He looked to see Xander staring at him _

"_What?" He sighed _

"_So what do you think of the girl?" He glared; it was pretty obvious what he thought _

"_She is no help around here, Toby should fire her" Sure, he hadn't even gotten to know the girl and yes, he was probably just being a jerk but he really didn't care. He just wanted the day over with. _

"_The same could be said about you when it was your first day" Chip interjected, appearing again from no where_

_He rolled his eyes considering, like he had many times in the past, if he should find new friends. Nah, he thought…it wasn't the worst of his problems at the moment. _

"_Besides I think she was digging you" The green ranger nudged him, he shuddered _

"_I would rather her leave me alone, she's useless anyway…they all are" His frustrations of the day went into the sentence, even if it was false in what he believed _

"_Who all are?" The orange haired lighting user asked, generally confused _

"_Women" Xander replied, looking disappointed at him _

_Again he rolled his eyes, he really didn't care…they know he didn't mean it. _

"_But Maddie and Vida…" Chip stumbled over his words _

_No one answered, no one wanted to answer. _

_A figure they didn't see vanished from the shadows, running out the door with a tear rolling down their cheek. _

"_Of course not" He replied, never would he consider the two sisters to be any less of a ranger than they were _

_The other two beside him smiled, his bad day seemed to be getting better. Going back onto the store's main floor, the girl that had annoyed him smiled. He decided to smile back; rain had stopped hitting the roof. _

_Maybe the day was getting better. _

"So this was a misunderstanding?" Daggeron sighed, leave it to them. If out of any of the rangers, why was it these three who got in the most trouble?

"A big one" Nick muttered

"We didn't know she was there" Chip tried to defend

"Still, it was unwise to say such things…" Udonna entered to give the males a look showed that she was both disappointed and still somewhat amused "…especially since you knew they were false"

The men swallowed, knowing that it was true.

"Have you seen the girls?" Nick asked, perhaps she had. If anyone would have, it would be her.

"No, I would expect they would have avoided this place" The former white ranger replied

You mean avoided us, the three rangers thought.

Xander then proceeded to take a step towards where their brooms were hidden.

"Where are you going?" The rangers' teacher asked, standing to stand eye to eye with the green ranger.

"To fix this" Those were his only words before he was gone, with Chip and Nick right behind him.

Then it was quiet, Daggeron sighed.

"They must correct their own mistakes" Udonna reminded him

"I know…" He looked out a window, knowing that the three were already half way there.

They had messed up, by the sound of things the two had been cut deeply. It would take a miracle to repair the damage, but if anyone could fix it was them.

"…I just wonder if they can"

She didn't answer, knowing that it was possible that the team that she had built had been torn apart and that there was nothing that she could do to fix it.

* * *

The world flew past her, she never wanted to stop.

Blond hair thrown to the wind, she felt like she could fly. Nothing reached her, nothing of what she had just done. Then she tripped, sending her into the dirt. Although her only injury was an aching leg, the moment sent the world around her crashing down.

"_Wait!" _

She had hurt them, but they had made fun of her.

"_Tori!" _

They were her teammates, her friends…why did she break them?

"_We didn't mean…" _

Had she just overreacted? Was it all just a joke that she had taken badly?

"_We never meant…" _

No, she thought, they knew what they were doing; they had done it on purpose. She couldn't go back now, proving a point was important. They must think that she hated them, leaving like that…

"_Look, I don't know what they did…but can't we just talk about it?" _

She had walked away…leaving them with the impression that she loathed them…But she had never hate them, she would never. They were her family; she had just destroyed her family.

Sliding down a tree, the tears came.

"What have I done?"

* * *

Reviews? Please!

So you know what the Mystics did…what about the ninjas?

Will Tori go back?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	3. Flying Away

Yo! Welcome to chapter 3 ya'lll!

I don't own any ranger teams mentioned…of course.

Please R2 (Read and Review) and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: Lothor and Mesogog have been defeated, but not the Master. So which villain do you think will be in the story?

ANYWAY!

I hope you enjoy ;)

* * *

Have you ever seen the faces of guilty men?

Stared them down, knowing that they were guilty?

And yet they refuse to admit to the crime, especially if you don't know what the crime was?

That's where he stood.

"Answer the question" Cam flanked him as they glared at their fellow rangers. His tone was cold, his stance was in anger. They wanted answers, but they were given none.

The room was silent, just as she had left it.

Power ran through his veins, anger towards them.

"What did you do?" Taking a step towards them, he stopped only to look straight into his elder brother's eyes. The question was hissed in pure anger; the wind rangers took a step back. But his brother stayed to face him.

"Blake…" The tone of his name was soft, even calm. Like a good brother, he was trying to calm him down, but it wasn't going to work.

"Just tell me what the fuck you did!" He growled, pushing Hunter back

"Calm down!" The crimson ranger yelled back

He went to attack him, only to be stopped by Cam's hand on his shoulder.

"Give them a chance to explain" The words were tinted with anger also, but being the more rational of the two of them, the green ranger wanted to wait before killing them.

"Fine" He shrugged off the hand, at the moment they were a team. Cam hadn't trusted them when the first joined the team, but they had attacked the win rangers before. Even if they had been evil at the time, the brain of the team remembered everything. They were united by the hurt that had been inflicted towards their only female member. Both were good friends of hers, they wouldn't stand for her to be in pain.

The green ranger turned back towards them "Start talking or get out" The message was simple, spill your guts or get out of his sight. That was Cam for you, straight and precise.

Both Dustin and Hunter nodded, before looking to the leader of the team. Meeting their gaze, Shane began.

"It was only meant as a joke…"

* * *

Tension filled the car; anger flowed through her sister's body.

Her head rested on the window, her gaze locked to the sky.

They hated her, Nick hated her.

_Escaping the rain, she waved to Toby. He smiled back before turning to face another girl. She assumed it was a customer, but on the other hand…she was really here to see her teammates. _

_Quickly scanning the floor, she didn't see them. That was strange, since neither she nor Vida were working today, they had to be. Where could they be? She saw a magazine that could only be Xanders, where were they? _

_Then she saw Chip go the room in the back, she followed. Slipping easily into the shadows, she gasped. _

"_She is no help around here, Toby should fire her" Nick seemed angry, why? Who should be fired, was it her? There were only two girls that worked at Rockporium. _

_Shrinking farther into the dark, only part on of the green ranger's reply reach her ears. _

"…_she was digging you" Did Xander know that she…they were talking about her. _

_Her eyes grew wide as Nick visibly shuddered at the thought, he didn't feel the same way? _

_His voice was angry _"_I would rather her leave me alone; she's useless anyway…they all are" _

_He hated her? _

_He thought she was worthless, sadness welled up in her. _

"_Who all are?" Chip asked, maybe she was wrong _

"_Women" Xander replied, she cringed_

_They hated her, she was the weak link. _

"_But Maddie and Vida…" _

_The last sentence broke her, a tear rolled down her face as she ran. Past Toby, into the newly shining sun that seemed to mock her. Away from them, away from her crushed heart. Into the first place she thought of, into the arms of her sister. _

"_Maddie?" _

_More tears fell, she started to shake. _

"_Maddie! What happened?" _

_They thought she was helpless, worthless. _

_Finally she found the words "They said…" _

"_Who? Was it Xander?" _

_She nodded, her legs were giving out. Being dragged to her sister's bed, she collapsed into a big hug. _

"_Nick…Chip…" She sobbed; she felt her sister's fists tightening _

"_What did they say?" _

_She was the weak link, they protected her and now they hated her. _

_Hate against her. _

_They were her friends, but they…_

"_Useless…" Whispered, the word left her mouth _

"_Who?" Anger tinted Vida's voice _

"_Women…me" The sentence was less that a whisper, but her sister heard it _

"_Those bastards" The pink ranger stood, she curled into the bedspread _

"_Where are you going?" What was she going to do? Anger was filling the room, the source being Vida. _

"_I'll be back, there's someone I have to __**talk**__ to" _

_With that, she was alone. _

_She buried her head in a pillow and screamed. _

_Pain, sorrow. _

_Helpless. _

_Worthless. _

_Useless. _

_They thought that she…He, Nick thought…_

_Her heart shattered in to a thousand pieces, the pain that filled her. _

_She reached for paper, he had to know. _

_It was short, sweet…showing nothing of her emotions._

_She was worthless, helpless; useless…the tears came again. _

_But she kept writing. _

"Maddie?"

She looked from the sky, into her sister's gaze.

"Yeah?" She tried to sound casual, try to disguise the sadness that filled her soul.

"How are you?"

"I'm good" They had been driving for hours, the sun was setting. But no amount of time would fix the empty hole in her chest. She had trusted them, he had …

Vida only nodded, she went back to the sky.

To be a bird, fly above the sadness.

Above the pain, the tears.

To be able to forget about everything.

She wished, but it wasn't to be.

She was stuck, with heartbreak and sorrow.

Dreaming only held off the darkness, but it was always there.

Never could it be escaped.

She loved him, her hated her.

The setting orb of light vanished, leaving only darkness.

They drove further away, away from them.

Flying away.

* * *

Earlier she had been flying, then she had crashed. Into the dirt, the stone cold reality. She didn't know what to do, then she decided to stand.

Going back wasn't an option, it had never been.

Looking back into the trees that she had once called home, a tear escaped.

She waited.

"Go for Blake"

Holding up her wrist she spoke "We have had good times, we have gotten through the tough times. I have enjoyed the past, but I can't live here any longer. I valued your friendships, I hope you understand why I am leaving." She paused, before continuing with her voice cracking "Cam, keep them together, make sure they don't do anything stupid. Hunter, you brooding idiot, be careful and try not to break your neck. Dustin, you are the best friend and little brother…" Tears fell down her face, filling her words "…that I could ask for, keep smiling dude. Shane, you were there when I needed you, when I cried…" She had to pause, memories filling her mind "…and when I laughed, be there for them. Blake, I wish I could be there longer, but I…" She didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything "…goodbye" She whispered

Then she ran, ignoring their voices trying to reach her.

Flying across the ground, everything else faded, she ran.

Flying away.

* * *

Before Shane could explain, the familiar beeping sound filled the room.

He held up his wrist, there was only one person it could be.

"Go for Blake" The words were filled with sorrow, he already missed her.

There was a pause before she spoke.

"We have had good times; we have gotten through the tough times. I have enjoyed the past, but I can't live here any longer. I valued your friendships; I hope you understand why I am leaving."

He froze, they all did. She was leaving the team?

"No" Dustin whispered, it wasn't heard by her

"Cam, keep them together, make sure they don't do anything stupid." Her voice stumbled, she didn't want to do it…why was she? Cam smiled sadly, knowing what she was doing.

"Hunter, you brooding idiot, be careful and try not to break your neck." The crimson ranger chuckled with tears building

Dustin, you are the best friend and little brother…" The earth ninja cried silently, leaning on Shane "…that I could ask for, keep smiling dude." The jokester of the team didn't smile, he frowned….refusing to accept what was happening.

"Shane, you were there when I needed you, when I cried…" The person who led them, who kept it all together started to fall. Hunter caught him, holding him up as the emotions that were always locked away were set free. "…and when I laughed, be there for them."

Even though she couldn't see, the dark haired male nodded. He would.

"Blake, I wish I could be there longer, but I…" Her saying his name brought him from being frozen"…goodbye" The line was disconnected, the room stayed silent.

Then it hit them.

"Tori?" He said into his morpher, there was no response

She…

He ran up the stairs, no caring if they were following. Searching the trees, he knew the truth. They all knew…running through the forest, they searched.

"Tori!" They called for her, only darkness answered.

"No…" He whispered, she…he had never been able to tell her.

Hunter appeared by his side, wiping away his tears.

"We'll find her" He nodded, accepting a hug before they kept searching

"TORI!" He yelled, into the never ending darkness of the forest

Only his echoed voice responded.

She was gone.

* * *

They had searched every inch of the house, but there was nothing.

"Damn it!" Xander growled, they sisters were his friends…where were they?

The yellow ranger ran his hand across the wet pillow, knowing who had cried here.

_"I FOUND HER CRYING HER EYES OUT, DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT MADE ME FEEL!"_

Sorrow plagued him "I caused this…" He said

"No…" He turned to see Nick enter the room "…I did, this is my fault"

"We all did" The earth ranger added

Chip's eyes still looked to the pillow, all that sadness, they had caused it. Then he noticed a white paper sticking out from under the pillow. He gently lifted it into the light, the other two took notice.

"What is it?" He didn't answer, taking in the state of the letter. It was torn, tear stained with the words scribbled and scraped into the paper.

_Dear Guys, _

_I'm sorry I let you down. You are right, I am worthless. I hope that your lives are better without me there, I am sorry. I will miss you all. _

_Goodbye, _

_Maddie _

She thought they had been talking about her, she…

He forgot the paper; let it drop to the ground.

"Maddie!" He yelled, running outside

It was dark, he kept searching.

There was no answer.

_Goodbye_

They had left, they were gone.

And it was his fault.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

So will the guys find them?

Where are the girls going?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	4. Aftermath

Hey, hey hey! Welcome to chapter 4!

I don't own any ranger teams mentioned….obviously

Please R2 (Read and Review) and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: This is all about the guys, make sure to read the very end! There's something special ;)

ANNN:Dark44Shadows, you know that pairing you love...the romance you wanted? Well you got it!

ANNNN: I don't own the song "Lights Off" by Jay Sean, I just love the song and I thought it fit!

ANYWAY!

I hope you enjoy ;)

* * *

_Air whipped against his face, his element was with him. _

_The trees towered above into the dark sky, he didn't notice. _

"_TORI!" _

_Again he called for her, there was no answer. They had split up to find her faster, not caring how tired they were. He entered a field, he searched it wearily. His muscles were screaming for rest, but he wouldn't stop. Not in till they found her. _

_Then he met two blue eyes._

_He was face to face with her. _

"_Shane" She smiled; he closed the gap between them. _

"_Where have you been? We've been looking for you" He pulled her into a hug, glad to see her unharmed. Maybe they could still fix the damage that he and the others had dished out. _

"_I had to get away" The whispered words filled his ears, she laid her head on his shoulder _

"_I know" He replied, he understood her reasons. It pained him that she had left, but he realized that leaving was probably the best thing for her personally to do. _

"_You understand?" Her sweet voice asked, he nodded _

_Silence came between them for a moment, they just stood there. He never wanted to let go, never lose her again. She was family, he wanted her close. _

"_Let's get back to ninja ops, they…" He ran off, the person he had been holding was gone. _

_There was only air, cold air. _

_His eyes looked frantically for her, there was no one. _

"_Tori" The word vanished into the dark _

"_I'm sorry that it had to end this way" Her voice came from the trees _

"_Where are you?" He asked, scanning the darkness, but nothing could be found _

"_I miss everyone" The words were filled with sadness _

"_Then come back!" He shot back; couldn't she see that that's what they wanted? _

"_I…" Her voice stumbled_

"_We miss you, please!" The tears built up in him, this was his friend…his sister and he couldn't do anything. _

"_Goodbye Shane" _

"_NO!" _

"SHANE!"

He felt someone shaking him; he looked to see that the person was Hunter. The blond was kneeling beside him, his eyes filled with worry. From the sitting position he realized he was in ninja ops. He must have crashed here after…last night.

They had searched in till they had to literally drag themselves back here with heavy hearts. They had found nothing; there was no trace of her. Her van was in Storm Charger's parking lot, her house empty. All her clothes were there, no hints of where she had gone. The only thing they had found was her cell phone with all their missed calls showing, it was in his pocket at the moment.

"You okay?" He looked to his fellow red

"Yeah" Standing, he stumbled into the kitchen with the thunder boy right behind him

Falling into a seat, he was surprised to see a cup set in front of him a moment later. Giving a nod of thanks to the male, he took a sip. It was warm and a little bitter, it was coffee. Exactly what he needed at the moment, that and to find…

He laid his head down on the table, it had felt so real. The hug, her smile, for a moment he had thought that he had actually found her. Is that what dreams were for? To torture you for the mistakes you wish that you could take back?

"Tired?" Hunter tried not to sound amused, but it leaked through, he must look ridicules at the moment.

Instead of telling him to shut the hell up, Shane just nodded. That resulted in him slightly hitting his head against the wood, which got a small chuckle from the other person in the room.

He looked up to study the other's face. It had creases of worry, red eyes that were puffy. His own eyes were sore, but that was another thing from last night. They had all cried, even him. He usually kept his feelings locked away, so they didn't interfere in his decisions. Once in a while they leaked through, like last night.

"Where are the others?" The dark headed male asked in typical leader fashion. He had already lost one teammate; he didn't want to lose anymore.

"Dustin and Blake are working, Cam is scanning the area…they decided to let us sleep" He raised an eyebrow

"They left us?" Not that it was strange, it had happened once or twice before when they refused to get out of bed. Their excuse had been that they needed more sleep, which the others declared as bullshit, but yet they were left in peace when they wanted to be. Must have had something to do with the fact that they would growl at anyone who tried to attempt to wake them.

Once they had woken to a bucket of ice water being dumped over their heads, the responsible parties had been punished. In translation, they had thrown Dustin and Blake off a cliff. Keep in mind it was a small cliff and it was into the ocean. That action had lead to them being pushed in by Tori, who was furious that the yellow and navy rangers had been thrown in. That had been a great day, being soaking wet twice.

"When I was talking to Cam, to find out where everyone was, he said something about us being lazy and growling when they tried to wake us up…but I really didn't hear him that well, you know the static and all" He snorted in amusement at the blonde's

explanation, that was one way of putting it.

"Then, right after I finish talking to him, you start mumbling stuff" Shane sighed, putting his head back down on the flat surface

"Great" He muttered, he had hoped that his words had not been heard.

"Something about coming back and missing someone…" The original red of the two froze, feeling the gaze of the other on him "…so, what was your dream about?"

There was no denying it, he had been caught. Lying to the other male would just result in him spilling his guts later with everyone here; and he really didn't want to do that.

He looked back up to connect eyes with Hunter and took a breath "I had found her, she was there"

The Crimson ranger nodded, they all wanted to find her.

"I told her that we had been trying to find her and…" He paused, his voice quivering "…she disappeared, just vanished. She just said goodbye. Then I woke up"

By this time he was shaking, it was a good thing that his coffee was safely on the table. A tear ran down his cheek, the thing about keeping his emotions to himself seemed to go out the window.

"We have to find her" He locked gazes with Hunter; they both knew how important she was to the team. She was the heart, the one who kept them going.

"We will" Shane said, the two agreed on something

They would find her, no matter what it took.

They would apologize; make sure she knew their regret.

They would dry her tears; then shed their own.

It was simple a simple plan, yet there was so much at stake. But to accomplish their goal, it began with a step. The first movement is and always will be the hardest; they knew that from the past. First they had to find her and the two agreed, as they knew their teammates would, that they would…

No matter what.

* * *

He was flying.

The sun had risen to consume him, but he welcomed it. It had not vanquished the darkness that overshadowed his heart. He soared, but his heavy heart was dragging across the fog covered ground. Bags of exhaustion showed under his eyes, his mind had warned him to go to sleep. To recharge, he had refused. Pushing himself further, his search had extended in the wee hours of the morning.

"Chip"

Snapping from his world, the yellow ranger landed to answer the call on his morpher.

"This is the heart breaking dumbass Chip Thorn, how may I help you?" The sarcasm was layered thick, but the first part was true. He was worried about the sisters; he knew Maddie was hurt but…

_"I felt horrible that I believed my friends' were better than that, that I had trusted the three of you!"_

Vida, he had broken her.

It wasn't Nick or Xander, it was _his_ fault.

They were best buds; he had always been there for her and vice versa. Always, they had promised the other, they would always be there. And where was he? He was standing in the middle of a forest with no idea where his best friend in the entire world was!

"Nice" He heard Xander mutter in the background

"Would you like to tell me where you are?"

Typical Nick, typical red ranger crap. Always had to know where his team was. **His ** team, he was the leader. Not that Chip wanted the spot, but wasn't he capable enough to take care of himself?

"Where do you think I am?" The growled words expressed his anger, he was where they should be!

"Chip…" His leader's words were calm, yet precarious. Like the red ranger was on a cliff, any wrong word giving him a push to fall off.

"I am searching for them, because I actually care!" With that he snapped the morpher that was in disguise as a phone shut, knowing that he was wrong. They all felt pain about what happened, how it went down. But it killed him, them running away from here…from them.

He attempted to take a step, a gasp of pain escaped.

The effects of not sleeping had finally caught up with him, he was falling apart. His legs turned to jelly, in a moment he found himself on the ground. Damp leaves cushioned, he stared at a old tree. It had been struck by lightening; half of it had been burned off. Fallen away, the dead limbs were no where to be found.

He looked upon the tree, it was himself.

They had saved one another, made sure that they both stayed together. He had saved her from being a vampire forever; she made sure he didn't kill himself on a daily basis.

Vida, she was a part of him.

Somehow he had always known, but now that she was gone…

He was lightening, he had burned himself…turned her to ashes.

The wind blew past, chilling his skin. Darkness started to invade, numbness spread through his body. Everything else faded, his eyelids were forced to droop. He still stared at himself, the scarred wood.

Tears rolled down his face, he had lost half his heart.

His eyes closed, right as the truth dawned.

No matter how long he searched nor how far his gaze went, even if he found her and was able to explain the mistake…

He had lost her.

* * *

Another was on the same edge, he was barely hanging on.

His partner wasn't doing so well either.

The shop was deserted, but they didn't notice. Blake was sitting on the back counter, slumped into a depressed state that only meant one thing. He was doing the same, together they were staring at the place that she would sit whenever she was there. The whole gang would gather there, but she would always lean against the main counter. Even in the back you could see the blond hair drape over her shoulders. Then she would turn to smile, brightening the day almost immediately…

A chime told them of someone entering the shop, he jerked up. Rushing to the main counter, he was filled with a surge of energy. Perhaps it was her…maybe she was here.

The hope turned into sorrow, it was just Kelly.

A sigh came from behind him; the navy ranger had hoped the same thing. The thought now came crashing down on them; more pain came crashing down. Just like the sea, the waves never stop pounding you.

Water, he felt the tears building, her element.

"Dustin, what's wrong?" He looked to meet his boss's gaze

"Nothing, just tired" His response was partially correct; the exhaustion was responsible for a good one percent of his condition at the moment. He had slept well the night before, neither had Blake. He was her best friend; the Bradley brother was her…he wasn't really sure how to classify their relationship at the moment. They had risen to go to work, leaving their teammates asleep, with very heavy hearts.

Kelly nodded, but she seemed to suspect that there was something off with his answer, just like something seemed off about him. She shrugged her shoulders, seeming to shrug off his response. Disappearing into where he knew the office was, he thought that was the last he was going to see of her.

He was proven wrong as she came back into the room toting a black radio. Both he and Blake watched as she plugged it in and turned it on. She turned to leave, he raised an eyebrow.

"It's too quite in here" She replied, then they were alone

It was playing static, which annoyed him. Turning the knob, he considered turning it off. It wasn't like anything was going to interest him or his teammate, all they wanted was…

_I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired  
It's you that I'm missing_

_It's like my brain is wired up  
and there's a glitch in my system_

He paused, as did his breathing. The lyrics seemed to be expressing the turmoil he felt, he was feeling like something was missing. He heard the breaths of the black haired male slow; he turned to music up a fraction.

_You're like a drug and now my blood won't stop itching  
I'm in critical condition  
Someone let me out of this prison_

On television he had seen where druggies had gone through withdraw, it was not pretty. But he had the same symptoms, not sleeping well, not being able to function, what he wanted being always on his mind. He felt helpless, unable to do anything.

"Someone let me out of this prison" He was unaware that he echoed the verse in till it was already spoken, the words already left his mouth.

_It's like my mind is playing tricks on me lately  
I could of sworn that you are still my baby  
I'm on a merry-go-round  
Going around, driving me crazy _

It was hard to comprehend, her not being here. She was their baby; he meant that in the most enduring way possible.

Who did they all care about so much? Her.

Who kept them together? Her.

Who would they all gladly die for, knowing that their death meant protection for another? Her.

"Driving me crazy" This time he wasn't the one that spoke, it was Blake. He didn't turn to look at the other man; he just kept staring at the source of the music.

_That's why it feels like  
losing you is like somebody just turned all the lights off  
won't somebody, anybody  
please just turn the lights on  
I won't take one step  
I can't see what's coming next  
losing you is like somebody just turned all the lights off  
can't see at all (at all, at all, at all)  
can't see at all (no, oh no)  
can't see at all (at all)  
cause it's like somebody just turned all the lights off_

They were blind; the darkness still was surrounding them. Where to start? The question had echoed their minds the night before. They needed help, but she usually encouraged them to make it work…no matter what.

_I don't understand how one minute I just had it all  
now I can't reach you cos I'm tied up with this straight jacket on  
I can't breathe (breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe)  
I can't see (see, see, see, see, see, see, see)  
It's like my mind is playing tricks on me lately  
I could of sworn that you are still my baby  
I'm on a merry-go-round  
going around, driving me crazy _

His breathing was still shallow, like his lungs were frozen at the thought of her. The oxygen flow was slow, but it was overshadowed by the song's beat. Their sorrow was spoken, words that they so desperately wanted to say.

_That's why it feels like losing you is like somebody just turned all the lights off  
won't somebody, anybody  
please just turn the lights on  
I won't take one step  
I can't see what's coming next  
losing you is like somebody just turned all the lights off  
can't see at all (at all, at all, at all)  
can't see at all (no, oh no)  
can't see at all (at all)  
cause it's like somebody just turned all the lights off _

"Losing you" He whispered, the thought had finally been recognized. He had put it off, refused to accept it but the truth was…

_Used to see my world in color girl  
when you left me it's like my world turned gray  
turn my winter into summer girl  
why won't you help me turn night to day  
I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't think at all  
honestly it feels like I ain't living no more  
can't say no more, can't see no more _

They were without sleep, without hunger, without her. It was all true, but...

_Baby that's…_

The radio exploded against the wall, his arm still raised where he had thrown it. The sound of the parts falling to the floor didn't reach his ears. He felt wetness on his cheeks, but he knew the feeling of tears far to well. The person singing had given up, and he would be damned if he was going to.

He turned to face Blake, who seemed to come to the same conclusion.

Never would they give up, no matter how long it took.

"I'm not giving up" He heard his fellow ranger say, wiping his slightly damp cheeks.

"Neither am I" Was his only response, as he gripped Blake's shoulder in a reassuring gesture

They both nodded, promising the other and the team.

They weren't giving up, he wasn't going down.

Not without a fight.

* * *

He looked into the sky.

It was bright, mocking him with cheer.

He wanted to tear the sun down from its perch, the sky to be dark like him soul.

He still couldn't believe it, but Rootcore showed their absence. Clare was cooking up a potion, but there was no spring in her step. She had arrived to the news, spiraling down to where the three of them were. Daggeron was the same, as was Udonna, they all missed the sister pair.

Vida was her irritation to anything, Maddie's sweet attitude…he sighed darkly.

Another entered the room, he didn't turn. The occupants of the tree had ignored each other, especially the rangers. Perhaps the person would ignore him to his sad daydreaming of better times.

"Xander?" His name broke the dream he was having; two words had barely been said to him all day.

"Nick" He turned to face the red ranger, who had taken Maddie's note hard. The tortured writing was tucked into Nick's pocket, they hadn't objected. Even if the two wouldn't acknowledge it, he, Chip, and Vida had known. They had seen how close the fire and water rangers were, it had seemed that opposites did attract like the saying suggests.

"Have you seen Chip?" He shook his head; he hadn't seen the redhead all day. They had contacted him earlier but that had been a while ago.

"He's not answering his morpher" That worried him, no matter what was going on they would always answer a call. Had the yellow ranger done something foolish in his sorrow?

"We need to find him" Xander said, going to where he knew the brooms were. It would be easier from the air; he probably hadn't left the woods. Nick did the same; soon they were flying through the sunlight that he cursed.

Had something happened to Chip? He prayed the answer was no, they needed him. If they were going to find the sisters, try to explain the horrible mistake, they needed to band together. To face the girls together, the whole team needed to be there.

It was a simple equation, a fairly basic one. To defeat the master, they had to do it as a complete team. To have a complete team, they needed the girls. To get the girls, they needed to find them After finding them, they need to explain the mistake.

To explain, to plead them to come back…

They needed him.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

So where are the girls?

How are the boys going to find them?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!

**Extra Surprise: Preview of the next chapter! **

Shane looked at what was left of his team, they were falling apart. Without that one piece, their base, they were crumbling.

"We…" His sentence was cut off by a ring tone

_Some days I'm a super bitch_

_Up to my own tricks, but it won't last forever _

_Next day I'm your super girl_

_And it keeps getting better _

He smiled sadly, another reminder of her. Removing her phone from his pocket by the second time the lyrics sang, he opened it.

"Hello?" The word was surprisingly cheery compared to his attitude at the moment

"Tori, you sure have a deep voice" The female voice on the other end seem to smirk, he chuckled, causing the others to raise eyebrows.

He could see their question without a sound, what was going on that caused him to laugh?

"This is her friend Shane" He wondered what he was going to tell the caller

"That makes more sense" The person muttered, pausing before continuing "Is Tori there?"

What to say? He mused the question, wondering what his response to the question would be

"Not at the moment, could I take a message?" Perhaps it would give a idea of where Tori was, more than likely it wouldn't, but what the hell?

"Just tell her the Vida from Briarwood called and tell her to call me back ASAP" His lungs seemed to stop working, he nodded before realizing that he was on the phone and that wasn't going to work.

"Okay" With that he hung up, and promptly stopped moving.

The others reacted in concern, having been watching his reactions the entire time.

"Shane?" Dustin waved his hand in front of his friend's face

But the red ranger ignored it, hope was invading and spreading.

Briarwood, maybe she was there?

Then he did something that he hadn't done since the day she disappeared…

He smiled from ear to ear.


	5. Hope and Despair

Hola. ¡Bienvenidos al capítulo 5!

(Hi! Welcome to chapter 5!)

Please R2 (Read and Review) and thanks for doing so!

I don't own any ranger teams mentioned….do I really have to say this? Right, don't want to get sued. But seriously, I am writing fanfiction! Very good fanfiction, but still it's not an episode (which saddens me, I think it would have made an awesome teamup). Okay, we are done with the rant…yeah, I'm grumpy.

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: The readers, that means YOU, have asked if Chip is okay…

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH! READ TO FIND OUT HIS FATE!

(That is my evil laugh, if you haven't noticed…yeah, I'm feeling slightly evil today)

ENJOY!

* * *

Why now?

The question plagued his mind as his footsteps flew across the firm earth. The samurai ranger was doing what the others wished they could, searching. He had called it "scanning the area" but Hunter had seen right through it with a sigh. Though the crimson ranger knew why he had left the reds at ninja ops, that did not mean that the blond wasn't upset.

"Why Tori, why now?" He said partially to himself, the other half going to the forest surrounding him. It wasn't like she would hear him; he was just talking to the trees. The other rangers always said that he shouldn't talk to himself, unless it was cyber cam.

He had been the first to realize her intentions the night before, that she was leaving and never coming back. Like the others, he also questioned her motives, but he also wondered why now? There were five of them and one of her. She tried to balance them, keep focused and out of trouble. There had been plenty of times that they had been overbearing, snapped at her for no reason. But she had taken it, dished it back out, and kept them together as a team. Whatever had happened, she would get over it and not hold a grudge.

Then it hit him, he drew his sword.

She had been there for them, never asked for anything in return. Never had she backed down, so why now? Why did the warrior he knew that accepted their faults, the one who promised that she would always be there disappear? She had said goodbye verbally, but was she scared to face them? So many questions, no one to answer them.

His true question he realized was not why now…

His blade cut through the air, firm and angry movements.

…but what had happened?

Reholstering the metal, he took a breath and streaked so that the trees rushed by to become a tunnel of green towards them…his teammates.

What had made her leave?

What had finally made her come undone?

"What did you do?" Cam hissed under his breath as he headed for the place he knew they would be

It was time for answers he decided, he wanted to know.

The reason for why he hadn't seen the blond in twenty four hours.

They would tell him…

…or else the team might be down two rangers instead of one.

* * *

He spotted him first.

A flash of orange in the corner of his eye, it took a moment to register the movement in the dark forest. Quickly circling back around, he looked specifically for it. And there it was, a small patch of orange.

"Chip" The ranger beside him breathed

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, before the two went into a steep dive. The air rushed past, as they rapidly approached the ground. Using timing that only came with training he left his broom to roll on the ground before running to where the body of his friend was. The green ranger did the same, they arrived at the fallen.

They heard their brooms hit the ground, but it was the last thing on their mind.

He was lying with leaves covering him, ones that must have blown there in the time they had been searching. His broom was right beside him, his morpher by his side. Nick took a deep breath, checking for a pulse. Feeling Xander's eyes on him, the red ranger turned to nod. Sighs of relief were heard, but the question remained…what had happened?

"Vida…"

The word broke the silence that surrounded the three; they looked down to see the yellow ranger stirring. It was no surprise that her name was said, they both knew that he had been looking for the sisters. They hadn't seen him the night before; it was assumed that he would come in when he was ready. But now they knew that he would never be ready, him passed out of the ground was very good proof of that.

"Chip, its Nick and Xander" Taking the leadership role, he calmly greeted his fellow ranger

"Are you okay mate?" The earth mystic asked

"Have to find..." Their friend ignored their words, struggling to get up

They did the first thing they came to their mind, hold him down. He resisted, but it was obvious that exhaustion was overcoming him. They both knew that the orange haired male needed to stay down; there was no telling of his injuries. For all they knew he could have fallen off his broom and if they moved him the wrong way he could be…Nick sighed, did he really just think of that? Yes his mind was exhausted and stressed out…but did he seriously just think that? Chip was one of the most skilled riders out of them all and why was he being so cynical? Assume the worst, Nick thought, great I'm acting like a great leader now.

"Let me go…" Chip mumbled as he twisted to no avail under their grip "Have to find her…"

"We will find them" Nick reassured, they had to

His face grew whiter than before, they didn't know what to do. Xander felt the exposed skin of the lightning user, ice cold. Then the ranger they were holding down stopped moving all together, their reactions were the same: concern.

"Chip…" Xander gently shook the man, there was no response

Two dark eyes looked up past them, like they weren't even there.

"Chip!" His voice was louder, more forceful

What was going on?

The two eyes looked over to him, then past him. Nick turned to look at what captured Chip's attention, it was a tree. They had had a lightning storm a few weeks ago and it must have been one of the unlucky ones to be hit.

"I burned her" The whispered words reached their ears, making them wonder what their friend was talking about. But not another word was spoken, two eyes closed.

"CHIP!" They both yelled at the top of their lungs, shaking him for any response. Without any direction from the other, they lifted him to their shoulders. Grabbing Chip's broom, Nick boarded it and motioned for Xander to lift the fallen on.

It was done, but not without a warning. It wasn't said in aggression nor was it meant as a threat, but as a reminder to him. The words told him that under any circumstances was Chip to be put in danger. "Don't let him fall" It was a hard to steer a broom with two people on it; the only person that had ever trusted him enough to even try it was Maddie.

His heart skipped a beat at the thought of her, but now wasn't the time to allow the sadness to overcome him.

"I won't" He vowed, before taking off into the air with the green ranger right on his tail

Flying as fast as he dared to, he cushioned his friend against him, making sure that he would never fall. The tree they called home came into view, he increased his speed.

He looked down at who they considered the youngest of the team, who was leaning against him with a grave look on his face. Chip was brave, but also kind of weird. Not to say they didn't mind his little quirks, like wearing a cape most everywhere. It made their days brighter, especially Vida's.

"We need you…" Nick said to himself before whispering the rest of the sentence as he went down to land "…Vida needs you."

* * *

Finally coming to their fully awake selves, the reds had decided to take a walk.

"Need me to slow down?" Shane smirked, seeing that he had a slight lead

"You wish!" The crimson male growled back, increasing his speed to match the air ninja's

But due to the competitive nature that drives all men, it had turned into a jog, then a run, where they had finally had ended up at an all out sprint to the finish. Both bolted for the door, pushing the other out of the way.

"WINNER!" They both yelled at the same time, making the few customers jump out of their skin.

"I am!"

"No, I am!"

Then laughter was heard, as the two caught their breath.

Frowns turned into smiles, sorrow was forgotten.

For a moment, a precious second the two forgot about reality. They were just kidding around, competing against each other like they had last week. Back when everything was normal and there were six of them.

The thing about that kind of joy is that something always breaks it, the bubble is burst. Then the cold hard truth hits you against, knocking you off your feet. Forgetful bliss is gone, stress and worry invade.

The thing to break the moment was none other than the owner of the shop, a worried Kelly.

"Shh! You'll wake them!" She hissed, the two grew quite

"Wake who?" The group of three looked to see Cam enter

Kelly didn't reply, only motioning them towards the "relax" room as the dirt yellow had once called it. The sight they saw was something that could only be described as absolutely adorable.

"Well isn't this cute" The original red said, looking at the two

"They are such babies" Hunter smirked as one twitched, making the other react

"Just like their brothers" Cam muttered under his breath, sending her into giggles

There were the two missing male rangers, lying on the couch with a blanket tucked around them. Their eyes were closed; it was obvious that they were catching up on missed sleep. Blake moved a little, causing the person he was leaning on to adjust and then the two were perfectly still once more. Dustin yawned, before snuggling deeper into the blanket and the heat source near him also known as the navy ranger.

Had this have happened a few months ago, the three fully awake rangers would have been wondering if something was going on…but they had grown closer since then and a brotherly snuggle (no matter how it sounded) was tolerated, to an extent of course.

Catching their attention again, Kelly motioned the three away from the sleeping two. Moving them behind the counter, she opened her mouth to speak. But before a word could be said, something caught their attention.

"What's this?" The tall blond poked a hunk of black plastic, he wondered if she had smashed it once when she was frustrated

"A radio" She replied, her voice seemed to take on a concerned tone

"What did you do to it?" Cam asked, wondering why her words seemed sad

"I…" Kelly's sentence was cut off

"It looks like it got smashed by a hammer…" Shane ran off

"Or thrown against a wall" She mumbled

They all raised eyebrows at that "What?"

"I heard it smash, I came out to find…"

_A horrible noise filled her ear; she scrambled to her feet before tearing out of her office. Coming into the main space, the first thing she saw was the radio in a pile of broken plastic on the floor. _

_Her fist tightened as she reacted like she would of in any situation…_

"_What the hell?" Growling, she turned to face her stock boys _

_The anger flew from her at the sight of sobbing Blake buried in a hug from an crying Dustin. The two were oblivious to her presence, she slowly walked over. _

_What was going on? She had seen the two down in the dumps, but they had never cried on front of her. When they had arrived this morning, something had been wrong, but she had brushed it off. _

"_Dustin…" The word rolled off her tongue softly as she set her hand on his shoulder _

_He looked wide eyed at her, before mumbling "Kel! Um…sorry, we'll get back to work" _

"_Forget about work…" She waved the idea off, did they seriously expect her to make them work in this emotional condition. Slowly she pulled the two in the comfort room, they sat. _

"_You guys really are tired are you?" She joked with a smile _

_A red eyed dark haired male nodded, leaning on Dustin. _

"_Look Kelly, you…" She cut him off _

"_Take a nap, you two need it" With that she strode from the room _

_Halfway to her office, she remembered the blankets that she kept since the ice age a while ago. Grabbing them, she went back to where she had left them. _

_They were already asleep; she carefully tucked the fabric around them. _

_A smile on her face, she turned and left the two to the sweet dreams she didn't doubt that they were having. _

_Walking to the counter, she manned the position that she had hired someone to do, doing so in pure happiness. _

_So they were sleeping on the job, but what she had learned from having employees was that a happy stock boy was a productive stock boy. And she knew that they weren't happy…What was going on? _

_Some might have wondering what she was doing, being nice to them, even though they were late…they left halfway through their shift and Blake had disappeared for no reason a few months ago. _

_But what did she care what they thought? She thought back to the image of them peacefully lying there, and then she really didn't care. _

_It was worth it. _

"They were…" Hunter ran off, looking at the other two. It had gotten worse; the two had had an emotional breakdown in front of Kelly.

"Yes, tell me why" She demanded, she wanted to know

The others eyed him; Shane decided just to tell her the truth. "Tori's gone"

"Gone?" Kelly gasped

"We had a fight and we haven't seen her since yesterday" The red ranger replied, there was no other way to explain their behavior. No lie would cover up what she had seen and they knew it.

"Have you called her?" It was a pitiful question, she knew they had, but still it was good to ask.

The skateboarder pulled the phone from his pocket "She left her phone behind"

"Her van is still here and so is all her stuff" Hunter added

"She just left?" They all nodded sadly

"They took it extremely hard, we all did" Cam said softly

Kelly walked from the room, they followed. Gazing at the two still sleeping, guilt washed over her. They should have called, she thought, she had made them work with the loss still fresh in their hearts.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Bringing her from her thoughts was a grinning Hunter who was evilly grinning at the sleeping form of his brother.

"Am I thinking what I think your thinking?" Shane replied, the same look on his face as he gazed upon an unsuspecting Dustin

"Great…" The green ranger muttered, knowing their plan included ice water

Hearing their playful tone, she internally growled.

"No disturbing them" She said coldly with a clear message, wake them up and feel her wrath

The three nodded, as she went back to work.

* * *

She sighed in relief as she arrived at her destination.

Walking into where she knew her ally hung out a lot, she was knocked to the ground by a teen in red. His hair was long and brown, with a worried expression on his face.

"Sorry!" Extending a hand, she was lifted back to her feet

"No problem" Tori replied, before a roar deafened her

"CONNER!"

The boy jumped behind her, she turned to see a group approaching them.

"You're gonna get in now" A African American male snickered

"We told you to be careful" A boy in white said calmly

The main source of anger came from the only female in the group, her dirty blind hair falling around her glaring eyes.

"Watch where you are going you…" The yelled sentence ran off as their eyes connected "Tori?"

She smiled, running into a hug.

"Good to see you Kira"

* * *

Fudge.

That's the simmered down cuss word that she was muttering as she pulled off the highway into a rest area. Maddie stirred from the sleep she had fallen into about an hour ago.

"We're stopping?" Her sister yawned

"Yup, you want to go stretch your legs?" Vida suggested, the water mystic nodded "Be careful"

"Yes mother" Rolling her eyes, she pulled out a map to look for where they were going

After studying it for a moment, she realized something…

She had no fudging idea where they were going, no fudging idea!

Pulling out her morpher/phone, she typed in the number that she knew could help.

Listening to the dial tone, she waited to talk to an ally.

* * *

On the path reserved for those walking their dogs, she walked in till she knew she was hidden from her sister's gaze. Pulling out her phone, she dialed the number.

She was worried.

She had to know.

* * *

"Dude…"

That's the first thing he heard, was Dustin's lazy voice.

Opening his eyes, he stretched his stiff muscles.

He felt better; the nap had been so helpful.

Now it was time to get up.

"Have a good nap Blakey Wakey?" The navy ranger looked into the eyes of his smirking brother

Scratch that, he thought diving back under the covers, he was going back to sleep.

"Go away" He muttered

"Looks like someone is grumpy" Without looking, he knew Shane was snickering at his expense

"Fuck you" His face was so buried in the pillow that he doubt they had heard it

"What was that?" Shut up Cam, he thought

He then proceeded to uncover his middle figure, which got a laugh from his fellow formally sleeping stock boy.

"Fine, stay there, but we are having a team meeting" Hunter said

At this, he surfaced to look for any sign of his boss, there was none.

The navy ranger looked at what was left of the team, they were falling apart. Without that one piece, their base, they were crumbling.

"So we…" Shane was cut off

_Some days I'm a super bitch_

_Up to my own tricks, but it won't last forever _

_Next day I'm your super girl_

_And it keeps getting better _

They all smiled sadly, another reminder of her. They had laughed when they found out that it was her ringtone, but she had defended herself well.

"_Don't be mad because you don't have a theme song" _

"_Theme song?" They smirked _

_She ignored the question "It fits don't you think?" _

_There was nothing they could say, she was right. _

Their leader removed her phone from his pocket by the second time the lyrics sang, he opened it.

"Hello?" The word was surprisingly cheery compared to his attitude at the moment

"Tori, you sure have a deep voice" The female voice on the other end seem to smirk, he chuckled, causing the others to raise eyebrows.

He could see their question without a sound, what was going on that caused him to laugh?

"This is her friend Shane" He wondered what he was going to tell the caller

"That makes more sense" The person muttered, pausing before continuing "Is Tori there?"

What to say? He mused the question, wondering what his response to the question would be

"Not at the moment, could I take a message?" Perhaps it would give a idea of where Tori was, more than likely it wouldn't, but what the hell?

"Just tell her the Vida from Briarwood called and tell her to call me back ASAP" His lungs seemed to stop working, he nodded before realizing that he was on the phone and that wasn't going to work.

"Okay" With that he hung up, and promptly stopped moving.

The others reacted in concern, having been watching his reactions the entire time. Both Dustin and Blake stood to surround him as the others were.

"Shane?" Dustin waved his hand in front of his friend's face

But the red ranger ignored it, hope was invading and spreading.

It wasn't much, but a place where she could be, it was great news.

Hope filled him, the sadness faded.

Then he did something that he hadn't done since the day she disappeared…

He smiled from ear to ear.

* * *

He was pacing, growling in frustration.

They had no idea what was wrong with Chip and the girls were gone.

"Stop pacing, your make a mark" He turned to glare at Xander

"I'll pace if I want too!" He hissed, which caused the green ranger to laugh

"You sound like a mad five year old!" Daggeron smirked from his seat on the other side of the room

"I do not!" Nick shot back

"I do not!" Xander mimicked, stomping his feet for added effect

Giggles came from where Clare was mixing her mystery potion

"Stop it!"

"Stop it!"

"I mean it Xander!"

"I mean it Xander!"

"Boys, calm yourselves" Udonna came from the room where their fallen teammate was

"How is he?" The red ranger asked

"No change" Was the response, they all sighed

Then a ringing was heard, he looked to his phone.

"Not me" He muttered

"Nope" Xander said

"It's not me" Their teacher added

"Oh goody!" Clare opened the ringing device and put it to her ear

Nick raised an eyebrow, since when did she have a phone?

"They are taking it hard…" She paused "…I know, we just miss…"

Who is she talking to? They wondered

"Maddie, I…"

He sprang from his seat, grabbing the phone from her hand.

"Maddie!"

Then he heard it, her voice.

"Nick?"

Her sweet voice, it was such a relief to hear it. He saw the others look at him asking _Where are they? _

"Where are you?" He wanted to know, to race there and wrap her in a hug

"Nick…I…"

Then the line went dead.

No.

"No!" He yelled, throwing the phone

"What happened?" Xander asked

He couldn't answer, he couldn't find the words.

All he knew was that she had slipped away.

That and that he missed her even more than before.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

What's going on with Chip?

What are the ninja's going to do?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	6. Torn

Sup? Welcome to chapter six, you know you are excited ;)

Please R2 (Read and Review) and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

To the reviewers of the last chapter:

Dark44shadows- Blake/Tori is my fav couple, but about Chip…he's fine or is he?

Angie004- I think Chip/Vida is awesome, glad you agree. Like I said above, Chip is doing just fine, he's not dead or anything…but then again…

FireIce- Chill, he's not going to die…

ANN: This chapter's all about the Mystics.

ANYWAY ENJOY!

* * *

_Ring. _

_She waited, anxiousness spreading through her. _

_Ring. _

_Had something happened? They weren't there, had the guys been attacked…were they dead? Calm down, she thought, the thoughts still wouldn't leave her mind. She had always worried about her teammates, not knowing what was going on was killing her. _

_Ring. _

_While she didn't want to go back and face them, if something happened because of her emotional problems…What if the master had attacked? The team was two rangers down, was Rootcore burning as the phone rang? Then her call would never be answered, she would never know. _

_Ring. _

_ANSWER THE PHONE! She thundered internally, her nerves were already frayed.  
_

_What if they needed their help? _

_Daggeron. _

_She had deserted the team, for good reason, but…_

_Udonna. _

_When, if, they came back…what would they find? _

_Xander. _

_A burned forest, six bodies? _

_Clare. _

_Would they be left to wonder who had fallen first? Who they were going to kill in revenge? _

_Chip. _

_She wouldn't be able to live with herself, because no matter what anyone said she knew that it had been her fault. _

_Nick. _

_The last name hit hard, she felt the tears threatening to show again. _

_He hated her, she lo…_

_She heard the phone open, sounds of movement came into her ear. _

"_Hello?" _

_A smile came to her face, she had let her imagine run wild. _

_They were fine or at least Clare was. _

"_Hey, how are they?" Her question wasn't one that she needed answered; she demanded it to be replied to. _

"_They are taking it hard…" The female on the other line seemed to express so much in the five words. _

_Sorrow, tears, and guilt was weaved into her voice to where it seemed that it had been years and not a day. _

"_We…I…had to leave" She stumbled over her words; there was so much she wanted to say. Instead she tucked it away, bottling it up for another time. _

"_I know, we just miss…" _

"_Us" She finished, knowing that the others were probably circling Clare at the moment _

"_Maddie, I…" _

_Her name seemed to freeze time for a moment, it was clear what she was going to say. I'm not sure what happened, but you should come back and blah blah blah. She wanted to know about the situation of the team and that was it. If she ever saw their faces, she would cry and never be able to stop…especially if it was…_

"_Maddie!" _

_Frozen time sped up to slam into her, knocking all the breath from her lungs. _

_It was him. _

_She could never erase his voice, even if she wanted to. _

_Deep, sweet, with a tint of spiciness. _

_She could imagine his dark eyes staring at her. _

"_Nick?" Was all she could choke out, her heart fluttered from her name being said…by him. _

_His strong arms wrapped around her, telling her that it would be alright. _

"_Where are you?" _

_The sentence stopped her day dream, that's all he wanted to know? _

_No, was she okay? _

_No, I am sorry? _

_No, please come back? _

_She felt her jaw tighten; there was nothing to suggest that he even really felt anything for her? Tempted to yell back for him to the fiery place opposing heaven, she was stopped by her greatest enemy…herself. _

_Her heart throbbed, she needed to end this. _

_If she stayed on any longer she might do something she would regret, like tell him. He would just reject her or he might not say anything at all. _

_She wasn't sure which she feared more. _

_Had she had the choice, she would have never gone into Rockporuim. Then this would have never happened, she would still smile shyly when he looked at her and then she would try to hide the blush in her cheeks…_

_But they were far past that, she wasn't sure if they would ever be friends again. _

_Knowing he still wanted an answer, she attempted to pull together a sentence. _

"_Nick…I…" _

_A moment later the conversation had ended and a tear had stained her cheek. _

_She was torn. _

_Part of her wanted to kill him for being a jerk. _

_He annoyed her with his arrogance on a daily basis, especially in the beginning. He was so cocky, hell bent on keeping her and the others out. _

_The other half loved him, even if she tried to deny it. _

_But why deny it? Even her sister had "suggested" that she could hint to him about asking her out. Which for Vida, meant kicking his ass in till he did. She had quickly shot down the idea; she didn't want him to be hurt on her behalf. _

_The two sides clashed for control, somehow she was suppose to control them both and make up her mind. _

_Forget him or let him haunt her. _

_Run away or run back into his embrace. _

_There was one answer she did have, the question was: Cry or not cry? _

_Her legs felt weak, she leaned up against a tree. _

_Her element ran down her cheeks. _

_Definitely cry. _

"Maddie?"

She attempted to look up, but instead she buried her head into her sister's shoulder. Like a doll, she was cradled and brought to her feet, not like she could stand on them though.

So they stood there.

With her bawling like she had when she was five and had skinned her knee.

With Vida holding her in a sense that it would all be okay, she was here.

That's how they stood…

Ignoring the people staring….

Not caring what the guys were thinking…

Trying to forget the past…

Thing was that the past wasn't going to be forgotten.

She would always remember and she wanted to remember.

No matter the pain.

No matter the heartbreak.

No matter the rejection.

She wanted to remember him.

* * *

"_Nick…I…" _

_Click. _

It haunted him.

His name, then nothing.

He sat in the middle of nowhere, hoping that his dark aura of a soul would ward off anyone coming after him.

She hadn't been able to say more than three words to him, another tear escaped.

"She hates me" He whispered to the trees

His heart was broken, torn into a million pieces and burned into ash.

He was torn.

He should forget about her, but…

It was Maddie, his little blue ranger.

But she wasn't his, she had proved that.

How to forget when you don't want to?

How to repair the glitch that made him only think of her?

How to heal the gaping wound in his chest?

Air ran through the leaves, he didn't expect any answers.

"No, she doesn't"

He knew the voice; there was no reason to turn.

"Go away" He said

He wanted to be alone, couldn't the person see that.

"Nick…" The person tried to reason with him

"Leave now" He growled a warning

"No"

It took him off guard, the word.

He stood and glared at him.

"I am not leaving"

Anger ran through his system, he just wanted to be left alone!

With a snarl he threw a punch at the male that came after him.

They exchanged blows, both were knocked back.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" He roared

Two eyes looked straight into his.

"Not in till you know the truth"

He had had enough, he would make him leave.

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!" His call was mimicked by the other

Light swallowed them both for a moment, then they stood looking at the other once again.

"Magic Staff: Sword Mode!" He hissed, ready to do battle

The other didn't want to do this, but seeing he had no choice "Magic Staff: Axe Mode!"

Then it began, he attacked his opponent.

And with that, Fire and Earth clashed.

* * *

She was on his mind, her face there.

"_Forever…" She smiled_

"…_and always" He finished, their eyes were locked _

Then she vanished.

"Vida…"

The cracked word left his lips, his eyes opened to revel that he was back at Rootcore…without **her**.

"Chip!" Clare appeared with a sigh of relief

"How long have I been out?" He asked, rubbing his head

His whole body hurt, next time he was going to sleep.

"A few hours, nothing more" Daggeron sent a small smile as he appeared

"Good to see you are awake" Udonna entered the room to send him a motherly kind of smile

"Where's Nick and Xander?" The yellow ranger stood to stretch his muscles

There was no answer.

Looking at his mentors, he asked again "Where are they?"

"Maddie called earlier…" Clare mumbled

"What?" She had called and he had been ASLEEP?

"Nick took it hard and walked into the woods" Udonna filled in

"And Xander went after him to talk to him" The Solaris knight finished

"Well…" His sentence was cut off

"Guys!" A cat they all knew appeared

They decided to ignore him.

"So…" Again he was interrupted

"Guys! Guys!" This time the word was said with waving arms to match

Taking a breath he said "They…"

"GUYS!"

"What is it Jenji?" Daggeron snapped in anger

"Nick and Xander are fighting" The sentence came out and all eyes went to him.

Nothing was said, the cat took this as a bad sign.

"They are morphed and everything! It looks like they are trying to kill each other!"

They stared, and then finally the two sentences registered.

"WHAT?"

* * *

Reviews? Please!

So will the red and green rangers tear each other to pieces?

Will the others be able to stop them?

And what will Maddie decided, to love or to hate?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	7. Roadtrip

Ello! Ready to read chapter 7?

Please R2 (Read and Review) and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: This one is all about the Ninjas. It will go back to being both soon, but since I did a mystic chapter, I thought I would do a ninja chapter!

* * *

"Tori?" The blue Dino tilted his head in confusion, as the other two males did while Kira gave a big hug to the blond

"You know, Tori Hanson" Kira replied giving a smile to the newly arrived female

"Doesn't ring a bell" Conner said

The water ninja sighed "The evil..." She looked around for witnesses, there were none "…ranger who attacked you?"

"Oh!" All three yelled, the two females met eyes…men.

"It's good to see you, how the team?" Ethan said kindly

They had gotten over the attack; it wasn't the other team's fault that they had been turned evil. The two ranger teams had stayed in slight contact, although now it seemed that the females had stayed much closer communication wise. Trent eyed Tori for any sign of her being a threat. The foreign ranger noticed this and prepared to surprise him.

"BOO!" She jumped at him, startling him before laughing

The others descended in chuckles, except the white ranger who glared.

"I'm not evil this time, I swear" The blond smirked at him

He accepted it, but that did not mean that he wasn't going to forgive her just yet. He was suspicious; it was his nature to be.

"Sorry Ethan, what was your question?" She hadn't heard it earlier due to the fact that she was preparing to scare a certain ex-evil ranger.

"How's your team?" The triceratops blue replied

She froze.

No movement, no sound. They waited for a response, but not a moment passed before they noticed something was wrong.

No! She silently screamed, she didn't want to think about…don't bring it up!

The younger rangers responded to her internal distress, especially Kira, who somehow just sensed that something was wrong. Looking straight into her eyes, the yellow tried to get her attention.

"Tor?"

There was no answer, which set the four on high alert.

The patrons of the café seemed to find her behavior strange, staring at her.

The Dino rangers circled her, to shield her from their gazes, while on the inside she collapsed.

She had tried to deny her emotions, but they were there and they wouldn't be pushed down. How were the guys? It was a simple question, but she couldn't answer it. She didn't know, she didn't want to know. It was a very good possibility that Blue bay harbor was in shambles from where they had torn the place apart looking for her. But she wasn't there; instead she was being watched by four sets of worried eyes.

"Did something happen to them?"

The question was also a simple one, but the truth was difficult. Kira had no idea what emotion the simple sentence held, the blow that she had just delivered.

No, nothing had happened. There had been no monster attack, no fire that burned down a building. Nothing had physically happened to them, but emotionally? The guys had always been strong on the outside but what about on the inside? They seemed to have a decent hold on their reactions but she suspected that had gone out the window when she left.

She could deny it but…

Yes, something had happened. She had drowned them in sorrow, the guilt was crushing her. A tear slid down, why was she crying? Oh right, she had deserted her family. She had heard it in Blake's voice when he answered his morpher, the sadness sinking it. More than likely the emotion had consumed them all, as it had to her.

"Tori!"

She didn't feel her legs collapse; she just knew that they no longer supported her.

She didn't feel herself hit the floor; she just knew she was there.

She didn't feel them shaking her, she just knew they were.

She didn't feel the tears escape; she just knew that her emotions had come loose.

She didn't feel, she knew.

The ninja didn't feel sorrow; she knew that she had inflicted it on herself

The blond didn't feel sadness; she knew that it plagued her soul.

Wanting to forget, she tried to push the thoughts away.

But they didn't budge.

"_Wait!" _

No, she didn't want to think.

"_Tori!" _

Go away, she thought.

"_We didn't mean…" _

Leave me alone! She wished they would obey

"_We never meant…" _

"No…" She whispered, she wanted to forget

"What's wrong?"

The question was ignored; she was too deep in her memories.

"_I don't know what they did…" _

Meanwhile the four tried to help her, doing so with knowing nothing of her fragile condition. The boys tried to lift her to her feet, finding that she was dead weight and that if they did get her to the correct position, she would slink right back down. The scene attracted the attention of Hayley, who Kira whispered a few words to. The redhead hurried to call a particular teacher, while Kira turned back to her friend…who was not responding to anything.

What was going on? The four asked the same question, but there was no answer

"TORI!"

The call went past her ears; it didn't even make it into her muddled mind.

"…_but can't we talk about it?" _

She didn't want to talk; she knew that she could never face them again. Why would they want to see her, she had broken their close knit family into a million pieces.

Darkness appeared in the corners of her consciousness, she begged it to spread.

Numbness, she didn't feel and she didn't want to know.

Everything else faded.

There were no memories of them.

Their faces disappeared.

The emotions vanished.

She was blank as her eyes closed.

Consumed by unconsciousness.

Nothing existed…

…and she was glad.

* * *

"Everybody ready?"

Shane looked at the pile of gym bags and their owners. They were stuffed to capacity and there was no doubt the clothes inside were wrinkled. But he didn't care and neither did the others.

Four heads nodded, it was time to go.

"_Briarwood" He said _

"_What about it?" Hunter asked, puzzled _

"_The girl on the phone wanted to talk to Tori, she was from Briarwood" Would they get the connection? _

"_Tori might be there" Cam whispered, they all were silent for a moment _

_Then there was Dustin, racing past them. _

"_Dude, where are you going?" Blake called _

"_To pack! I'm going to Briarfield!" The racing yellow skidded to a stop _

"_Briarwood" He corrected _

"_Whatever…" The brunette scoffed "Are you coming or what?" _

_They all nodded, they were going after her. _

_The store emptied, knowing that only moments later it would be refilled. _

It had taken about ten minutes for them to run to their homes, stuff a bag and hurry back. Smiles were on their faces, the rush of hope was one they loved.

"How are we getting there?"

Then Cam had to rain on the parade.

Again silence came between them, no one had thought of that.

Then the leader's eye rested on a specific vehicle, a van.

Scratch that, it wasn't a van…

It was her van.

They all seemed to get Shane's idea, following him as he picked up his bag and walked over. Trying the door, he found it unlocked. The smell of sand and salt came to him. The interior was clean, but the scent still faintly remained.

"So…" He ran off, before he heard the back open.

There was Hunter, throwing his stuff on before taking a seat in the back.

They all stared.

No one messed with Tori's van, knowing that a death sentence awaited them. As she said, quote on quote, it was "her baby". And if there was one thing they had learned about women, you do not hurt their babies or even get between the mother and child or face a bear. Mother bear syndrome was real, they knew personally.

_They didn't know intill it had happened in till they heard the unmistakable noise of scraping metal. _

"_Shit" Hunter winced _

_They had been trying to load their bikes into her van, but…_

"_She's going to kill you guys" He said _

"_No she won't" The yellow ranger replied _

"_Well you can ask her" The younger thunder ninja pointed to a rapidly approaching Tori _

"_Hey Tor" Shane greeted her _

"_Hey…" She ran off and zeroed in on the damage _

"_We're doomed" He mumbled, making sure that his green self was not in her line of vision _

_It was a scrape, a big one. _

"_My car" She muttered _

"_We can fix it" Blake tried to stop her anger _

"_Yeah, we can borrow tools from Kelly" Dustin added _

"_We can…" The other Bradley brother was cut off_

"_MY CAR!" She yelled, glaring at them _

"_Run?" Shane suggested _

_The others didn't reply, the four ran for their lives. She was about to follow, but instead turned to him. _

_He swallowed in fear. _

"_Did you see what they did to my baby?" She hissed _

"_Yes I did, those bastards" He said, trying not to shake on the inside _

"_Can you fix it?" Her tone wasn't as menacing, but he was still afraid _

_He nodded, she smiled. _

"_Drive it to Ninja Ops and fix it" Handing him the keys, she walked started walking away _

_He quickly got in, starting the car before she could come back. _

"_HELP!" _

_He sped off, knowing that one of her targets had been captured. _

Cam sighed, good times.

"What?" The crimson ranger raised an eyebrow "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can return the van"

Dustin smirked, agreeing with that logic. They weren't stealing her van, they were borrowing it. There was a difference and as long as they didn't crash it, she wouldn't care. Or at least that's what they hoped.

Their bags loaded in, Shane took the wheel with Blake and his best friend beside him. Cam and Hunter sat in the back, specifically peering over the seat at the moment.

They were waiting on him, but there was a slight…

"Well…let's go" The navy ranger urged

…problem.

"No keys" The dark haired male showed them his empty hands

"Fudge" The earth ninja sighed

Where would she have hidden them? Shane thought of all the places. Her house, but they had already looked there. Maybe she had taken them with her, but that wasn't like her. Ninja Ops? No, she never left them there.

Hunter started to whistle, for some random reason, he knew the words.

"The itsy bittsy spider climbed up the water spout…" He mumbled, remembering a sweeter voice

_"… down came the rain and washed the spider out, out came the sun…" _

"_Tori, come on" He sighed and she grinned _

"_What? Oh right you don't like spiders" Dustin snickered _

"_You want to make something of it Waldo?" He growled, that shut him up_

"_It's just a song Shane" The surfboard carrying female reminded him _

"_Yeah, well…" He couldn't come up with a good argument _

_She rolled her blue eyes "Whatever, are you driving?" _

_He nodded, as he climbed into the driver's seat. She loaded her board to join them in the front. The racing yellow began to chat up the only female and he went to crank the van to remember that he didn't have the keys. _

"_Tor, where's the keys?" She looked to him _

"_Under the seat" This caused Dustin to voice his opinion _

"_That's not safe, anyone could find them" The brown haired male scolded _

"_I've been doing it for years, it would have been stolen already" She shot back _

_They continued bickering; he reached his hand under the seat. Feeling around for the cold metal, instead he encountered a rubbery texture. Being generally curios, he pulled the strange object. _

_His eyes met the thing he held…_

"_AHHHHHHHHHH!" _

…_and then he screamed. _

_He jumped from the car, his adrenalin pumping. _

_He shuddered, it had been a spider. _

_And not just any spider, a FUCKING BIG SPIDER! _

_Then another sound reached him, laughter. _

_He looked into the van and growled. _

_His best friends were laughing their asses off at him. _

"_A fake spider!" Dustin sputtered "Brilliant!" _

_He stared at the thing resting in his seat, it was a fake. _

_Well now he felt like an idiot. _

"_Sorry Shane" Tori giggled _

_A really big one, she had set him up! _

_He didn't reply, just hurling the fake monstrosity into the back before taking his seat. _

_Digging under the seat, he found the keys and started the van. _

_The laughing had died down but…_

"…_And dried up all the rain, and the itsy-bitsy spider…" He snarled, but she didn't stop singing _

_They were going to pay dearly for that, he knew that much. _

"…climbed up the spout again" He finished, before realizing that the other occupants of the car were staring at him.

"Dude" Dustin snickered

"Did we miss something?" Cam asked, looking between the two

"Tori sc…"

"Don't you dare" Shane hissed in pure red ranger anger

"What did she do?" Hunter was interested, great

"Nothing" The yellow ranger replied, after being sent a fierce glare

The other three raised eyebrows, but knew that they weren't going to hear the story.

Did she really leave…he wondered if she did.

Reaching under the seat, he tensed at the thought of feeling the same rubbery object. But there was none, just…

"Found them" He said, holding the keys up it victory

"Let's go then" Blake replied in an impatient tone

"Chill Blakey Wakey" The crimson ranger chuckled

"Don't call me that!"

"I will if I want to!"

"Fine, Hunter Wunter"

"Burn" Cam snickered at the thunder ninja's face

"You did not!"

"Have a problem with it big bro?"

"Hell yes I do!"

"Well too bad!"

"He's asking for it" Dustin muttered

"Blake, stop it right now!"

"Or what? Are you going to cuddle me to death?"

"YOU ARE DEAD!"

"BRING IT!"

And with that, the navy ranger was pulled into the back.

Cam quickly took Blake's place, to avoid the scuffle.

With sounds of fighting coming from behind him, Shane sighed.

This was going to be a long trip.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

So will the Dino's find out what happened with Tori and the guys?

And will what happened between them be reveled? (Yes, next chapter)

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	8. Communication Breakdown

Dudes! This is chapter 8!

Please R2 (Read and Review) and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

AN: I need help! I don't know whether to do: Kira/ Trent or Kira/ Connor! HELP ME! I don't know which to do. I know that it was Kira/Trent in the series, but…ARG, I just don't know! Help will be much appreciated!

AN: This chapter is one of the reasons that it is rated **M** (M does not mean meak!) There is cussing and lots of it! The mystics have a colorful ways of communicating and so do the ninjas! So in this chapter there is fighting, fighting, and fighting! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

AN: **This is a guys chapter!** Also, I know I said that I would tell you what happened between Tori and the ninjas but I wasn't able to put it in just yet…sorry! Anyway, Shane is going to have a massive meltdown.

AN: **VOTE IN MY POLL ON MY PROFILE!** Good karma to those who do so and a virtual hug from the love birds: Blake or Nick or Chip…your choice!

Blake: "Wha?"

Nick: "Hell NO!

Chip: "What's' your deal guys? I'm cool with it! Who wants a hug?"

Anyway, ENJOY!

* * *

Silence.

There was only the screech of metal.

They clashed with the force usually reserved only for the evil minions of the master. Neither knew how long the battle had gone on for, neither really knew why they were fighting.

But both knew that they weren't going to lose.

Again they met to connect weapons, glaring into the dark visor covering his opponent's eyes. Both avoided attacks from the other, stepping back just to dash forward again.

One snarled at the other in anger, but the source of the rage was not the ranger in front of him, it was the situation of his team that was driving him mad. Not only was he fighting with a teammate, he was also missing two members, including a particular black haired female who held a special soft spot in his heart…

"She doesn't hate you!"

Not that he would ever admit it, because despite what Xander said, she hated him. He had broken her; it was his fault that she was gone. Not only was he furious at the situation but he was angry at himself.

"Yes, she does!" He roared back, another slice of his blade barely missing his friend

The green ranger shook his head with a sigh, stepping back.

What was he doing? That was the question going through Nick's head as he watched the Mystic green suit disappear. A moment later, there was just Xander.

Two eyes met his, even though he had his dark visor covering his face.

Slowly, the other male closed the gap between them, in till only a short space was between them. It occurred to him that he should power down, but his body wouldn't respond.

"Look mate…" The green ranger tried to gather the right words "…I don't want to fight"

"Then why the fuck did you follow me?" The still morphed mystic spewed the sentence, even if he was just proving how much of an asshole he was by doing so.

He was met by a glare while Xander clenched his teeth "I came all the way out here to make sure you don't kill yourself and all I get is an order to fuck off!"

"I came out here to think, to be away from all of you!" Nick hissed back

He had warned the other ranger to go away, to leave him alone, but did he listen?

That would be a big fat **no**.

"Well that's not your decision to make!" The other bellowed

"I am the leader!" The red ranger confirmed

"Well look what a great job you did…" Xander pointed around him at the empty forest "…because last time I checked, we had two rangers missing and another unconscious!"

"Your point is?" Nick snarled

The two locked eyes in pure aggression "If we are going to find the girls, we need to make sure that we are there for each other. Which means we don't run off to be all moody, which means we don't ignore someone who is trying to help you, and we don't bicker like idiots…WHICH IS WHAT WE ARE DOING RIGHT NOW!"

"Anything else you want to share?" The dark haired Latino growled

"You are an idiot"

"Any reason why?"

The conversation was cooling down a bit, no blood had been spilled. So they had fought, but it wasn't like their friendship was going to suffer. So Nick had been an ass and gone all bitchy on Xander, well the scenario wasn't exactly uncommon.

"For not telling Maddie that you…" Xander ran off, driving the other male over the edge

Before he could even think about what the hell he was doing, Nick pulled his fist back.

But before the punch could be delivered, they were both sent flying by a thunderbolt. The red ranger was demorphed, partially his own desire to do so and partially the fact that he had collide with a tree in midair. The air was knocked out of his lungs, leaving him gasping. Xander on the other hand, skidded across the ground till he slid into a bunch of bushes. Covered in leaves, the green mystic felt as though little birdies were flying above his head.

Both groaned, partially stunned from impact.

"DO EITHER OF YOU WANT TO TELL ME WHAT THE FUCKING HELL YOU BRAIN DEAD IDIOTS ARE DOING?" A voice roared, the colorful sentence echoing across the forest.

"Ow"

"Fuuuck"

The two rolled over to see a specific redhead glaring at them

Forgetting momentarily about their battle a moment ago, the two scrambled to climb to their feet. Seeing their fallen member once again conscious made smiles come to their faces, although they failed to see the lighting surging through the yellow mystic's veins.

"Chip, you're oka…" Xander's sentence was cut off by a punch to the mouth

"What the…" The same was dealt to Nick

Rarely did the person known as Chip Thorn get angry. He usually had the girls to keep him balanced, that and he rarely found anything to be mad about. The situation he came upon though really pissed him off. So, he had to make sure he had this right, he had been **unconscious** and the girls were **still missing**…and they were **tearing each other's throats out?** Yup, there was a bunch of geniuses on his team. More like there was a bunch of testosterone driven egomaniacs on his team.

"What the hell?" Both of his teammates asked, shocked as they rose to their feet while rubbing their bruised jaws

"Why the bloody hell did I wake up to the news that you two were dueling to the death?" He didn't answer the question, but instead fired his own at them

"It was his fault!" Nick pointed at the green mystic

Great, another round of the fabulous blame game.

"ME? You were the one who ran off!" Xander hissed back

Seeing that the two were about to descend into a bickering match due to their egos, Chip just sighed. Why couldn't they just act their age?

"I told you to leave!"

"Like I was going to leave you alone to do something stupid!"

Let's see, that was a no.

The two fought, but it was usually a verbal battle. There usually wasn't a winner, one of the girls coming to break it up before….Chip sighed; he missed them desperately.

"_YOU DUMBASSES!" _

That's what she would say, Vida.

She would come storming in to plow the two's faces into the ground before giving him a smile. Maddie would be trailing behind, giving the fallen rangers a smack to the arm before helping them up. Nick would shrug off her attention and to prove he was just as tough, Xander would do the same. The blue ranger would growl at them for being idiots, all while making love eyes at the fire mystic. She thought they didn't see, but they did. There would be a small gag from Xander, the three of them would giggle silently at the couple. Then he would roll his eyes and she would give him an even wider smile.

His eyes went to the tree line, nothing.

But they weren't here, she wasn't there beside him.

No smile, no strip of pink on black.

What he wouldn't give…

Reality rushed back, bring the sounds of the argument he had shut out.

"Me do something stupid? Who's saved your ass from being kicked?"

"That was only one time and I only asked you to hide me from V!"

The two completely forgot about him, his anger and his question.

"Anything new?"

The redheaded yellow looked to see Daggeron flank him, eyes looking cautiously on the bickering rangers. The sight wasn't new to the older ranger, but still they were both weary of the situation. Never had it turned to drawing blood, but with the two egos, anything could happen.

He shook his head "Same old, same old"

The two looked back to the two formally fighting rangers, who had resorted to shaving even more maturity off their tactics. Chip wouldn't be surprised if they started flicking each other in the ears and pushing each other down in a moment. They had gone low, lower than they would normally go. Dirty, below the belt hits…

Name calling.

"Earth flunky!"

"Fire baby!"

"Loser!"

"Idiot!"

"Brain dead!"

"Softie!"

The eldest ranger internally chuckled at that one, knowing that Nick's blood was boiling at that one, although there was nothing wrong with being a kind person. By this time, the two were in the others faces. Though they didn't realize how stupid their argument looked from the outside, the watching parties struggled to contain their laughs.

"Stupid!"

"Bastard!"

"Asshole!"

"I believe that one is yours"

"Ouch" Chip winced, that was low

"Xander…" Nick snarled, but the earth mystic wasn't backing down

"Here we go…" The Solaris Knight sighed, expecting to have a fight to break up.

Instead the beep of their morphers alerted them to a possible monster attack.

"This isn't over" Xander hissed

All that replied was a glare before they lined up to morph. It felt strange with only four of them, but they had to forget for the moment.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"

* * *

He was going insane, it was official.

He was officially out of his mind.

There were multiple, each equally maddening, reasons for the insanity plaguing him.

One: He was tired

Two: He was stressed out

Three: His teammate, best friend, and sister was missing and he had no idea where she was.

Four: DID YOU NOT READ NUMBER THREE?

But the main reason for his mind melting was his surroundings. Gripping the steering wheel in till his knuckles turned white, he tried desperately to block it out. Thing was that no matter how he tried, the single solitary fact was that **they wouldn't shut up! **

Even after three hours and two pit stops, the Bradley brothers were still fighting. He wasn't sure how they pulled it off, but looking in the mirror told him the same story he had seen five minutes ago.

Most would think that Hunter, being the bigger and stronger of the two, would have won easily. Only problem was that the navy ranger wasn't giving up, no matter how hopeless his odds seemed.

And to make matters worse, the two sitting beside him were egging them on. Hell, they had even put bets on them. Cam, being logical in every aspect, had gone with Hunter. Stating that the dirty blond would kick his opponents butt, the green ranger was confident. On the other hand, Dustin was a risk taker and besides, he thought that Blake had the will to beat his elder brother. The wagers were not high, five bucks a piece and so they were still waiting to find out the results.

Now it might have been easy to ignore had the name calling between the two fighting had not been going on. Taking a breath, he tried to ignore it…

"Hothead!" The dark haired fighter spat, trying to escape the choke hold he had been place in

"Lover boy!" Hunter smirked; the navy ranger's eyes went wide

"Wow" Cam whistled; they all knew how Blake felt but…

"Too far dude, too far" Dustin winced, knowing it wasn't a good idea to bring it up

Glaring into his brother's eyes, Blake yelled "YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!" before tackling said elder into the van's side.

Not only did that action cause a metallic noise to ring through out the vehicle…

Not only did the force send the car onto the rumble strips on the side of the interstate….

Not only did Cam and Dustin, who at the time were no wearing their seatbelts properly, collide with him, which caused him to hit his head on the window….

The simple insult, which resulted in a simple tackle, sent him over the edge.

That did it.

He, despite his normally cool composure, Shane Clark, snapped.

A growl escaped his throat, which froze all action in the van.

It started off deathly cold, but the heat was building.

"Why?"

His word was a simplistic one, but still they couldn't seem to comprehend it. Waiting for it to be answered, he massaged his aching temple, took a hand off the wheel to point at them to fasten their safety belts, and moved the car back on the road. Although, it was not necessarily in that order.

When there was no response coming through the deathly quiet, he decided to ask again.

"Why the hell are you doing this?"

This time, a brave soul decided to reply.

That person was Dustin.

The sentence started off quite and it was clear that the yellow was scared of him at the moment, probably for good reason "Um…because Hunter's an idiot…"

"HEY!"

A glare from the three shut the crimson ranger up, as his friend continued "…for provoking Blake to begin with"

The answer was a decently good one, but the fire was just building.

"Why are you torturing me?" He hissed in their direction

Their eyes went wide.

Out of the corner of his vision, he saw Dustin whisper one word.

Shit.

He internally smirked, shit was right. Dustin saw it coming, a full blow monster tornado also known as his anger.

"We didn't…" Hunter ran off

"I have been driving for three fucking hours listening to you idiots argue and fight, have you ever thought of me! I put up with it with the hope, no the wish, that you morons would work it out, but did you?"

He waited.

"No?" Blake mumbled in uncertainty

"That's right…" He smiled, which caught them even more off guard "…NO! GOD FUCKING DAMN IT! I never wanted to be on this trip, looking for my sister, but here we are!"

"Uh Shane?" Cam poked him

That pissed him off even more, they weren't even listening!

"Why do you have to make so much noise? ARE YOU FUCKING FIVE YEARS OLD OR SOMETHING? IF YOU HAVE TO FIGHT DO IT SILENTLY, I CAN'T TAKE THE HALF ASSED INSULTS!" He took a deep breath, perhaps they had gotten what he was trying so nicely to communicate

"Shane?" Dustin as well as Cam poked him

That would be a no.

Then he remembered that there was one more thing he wanted to say.

"I SWEAR TO GOD THAT IF I HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU ANOTHER MOMENT OF THIS FUCKING CRAP THAT I WILL DRIVE THIS VAN OFF A BRIDGE!"

"Shane?" Now three people were poking him, hard.

"SO SHUT THE HELL UP!"

The rant felt good, but for some reason he had a feeling that they still weren't…

"Shane?"

…listening.

"WHAT?" He roared, looking over his shoulder to glare with the person who had joined the others in poking him.

Hunter.

The two stared at each other for a moment, before he turned to take his eyes back to the road. The poking had stopped and it was quite again. He realized that he had gone overboard, blowing up at them when he didn't need too. Yes they had annoyed him, but he was supposed to deal with it. That was what being red ranger meant and besides he hadn't even asked them to stop nicely.

Remembering that he had just yelled at a specific male, he took a breath and said "Sorry Hunter, what is it?"

That might have been a bit too much; he decided that he was going to apologize to them all in a moment…

"Can we stop at McDonalds?"

He felt his eye twitch.

Slowly and calmly, he pulled off onto an exit an pulled into a gas station.

"This isn't McDona…" He cut Dustin's pouting off with one action

Cutting the van's engine, he removed the key, and promptly threw it over his shoulder. It hit Blake square in the face, causing the navy ranger to wince. He then exited the vehicle and started walking away.

Perhaps if he could just get far enough away, just far enough…

"Shane!"

But obviously that wasn't an option.

"What did we do?"

He screamed in frustration on the inside, although he had a few key words for the four rangers now staring at his back. Whipping around to glare fiercely at them, he let them have it.

"What did you do?" His voice started out at its normal volume as he repeated the question.

None of them said a word.

"How about what you haven't done? I seriously wonder how the fucking hell I get along with you idiots every day, oh that's right…TORI! WE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE KILLED EACH OTHER BY NOW IF IT WASN'T FOR HER!" He was yelling at this point, which gained the attention of those pumping gas. Great, he thought in the back of his mind, entertainment while you fill up your car.

"Come on we didn't mean…" Dustin tried to reason with him

Not going to work, he knew that much.

"DIDN'T MEAN WHAT? TO FUCKING DRIVE ME INSANE?" He bellowed

"Calm down" Cam said

"FUNNY HOW TORI USED TO SAY THAT" He hissed menacingly

"Shane, come back to the van and we…" Hunter's sentence was cut off

"Hey!"

They all looked to an older woman standing by her car with a smoothie in hand.

"What the fuck do you want?" The crimson ranger growled at being interrupted, his sentence almost made her drop her drink

"Where is this Tori chick anyway?" Another spectator asked the question that the older woman, who was now in shock, had wanted to know

"Yeah, that's what I want to know" A third added

"You and me both buddy, you and me both" Blake yelled back

Using this exchange of words to his advantage, the original red ninja turned and started to march up the road away from them. Maybe if he could get further away he could calm down and then come back…

"Shane!"

"Dude!"

Never mind the foolish idea, they had spotted his getaway.

"Come on Shane!"

"We're sorry!"

But he didn't care.

They could go with the van to Briarwood on their own.

Because they were close enough to where he could walk if he wanted to.

He didn't want to see them.

He didn't want t to talk to them.

The best thing they could do was leave him the fuck alone.

"SHANE!"

A hand twirled his around roughly so that he faced the group that had chased after him.

He glared; they looked with guilt in their eyes back.

"I am only going to say this once…"

They absorbed every word as he spoke them slowly.

"…let me go"

* * *

Reviews? Please!

So the teams are falling apart!

FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT CHAPTER!


	9. Regret

This is….*drum roll* …chapter 9!

Please R2 (Read and Review) and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: **Girls Chapppie! **This is mostly Tori, but it has Vida + Maddie and a little bit of Kira and the Dinos (So maybe not complete girls chapter)

ANNN: This chapter is 7, 285 words, it took so long to type! If it doesn't seem like that much, it's about 19 pages of work of Microsoft word!

ANYWAY ENJOY!

* * *

Conciseness began to return, emotions rushed back over her.

Anger.

Sadness.

Regret.

Opening her eyes, she found herself in an unfamiliar bedroom.

Panic was stirred up, where was she?

How did she get here?

Then the memory rushed over her of the last few days, she closed her eyes once more. There was so many way to describe to herself what had happened, so many possible ways to remember…Thing was that there was only three words needed, so it would be clear.

She had left.

No more explanation was needed; it was clear as the tear running down her cheek. The reasons didn't matter; neither did the words that she had spewed. Why she was here didn't matter; who she was with didn't. The three words said so much about how much she cared. It showed she didn't care at all; after all she had broken them.

Broken, what a word.

She hadn't hurt them; no…she had shattered them. There was most likely a million pieces of them scattered all over where she had fled, each piece a result of her breaking off all contact with them.

They could easily roll off her tongue, like they had many times before, but the words froze in her throat. She couldn't get herself to say the ones that had cared, the ones that had been there. The five echoed throughout her mind, as did their last words to her.

**Cam. **

"_Tori!" _

They had gotten along well; she liked silence as did he. Although he had not had much faith in her or the other wind ninjas in the beginning, they had grown close. Anything he could do for her he made sure she knew that he was willing to help. In return, she supported him, like his decision to become a ranger. Plus she also dragged the green ranger out with excuses that he needed to get out or he would become a shut in.

"_Come on Cam!" She was physically pulling him up the stairs of Ninja Ops_

"_I have stuff to do!" He shot back, using all his weight to keep from being forced outside_

_He was so stubborn, she let his hand go. _

"_Ow" He grumbled, falling on his butt _

"_Look…" She stared fiercely at him with a demanding voice "…I told you that we were going out and you said you would come" _

"_No, I didn't" Two eyes rolled at her, which did not amuse her _

"_Yes, you did" With her response, he stood to take a long look back at the computer _

_Time to bring out the big guns; she decided "Fine, I'll tell the others that…" a fake tear ran down her cheek "…you lied to me!" Even at her age, she could use her emotions to "convince" people. _

_He gasped, knowing exactly what she was implying. The others would have his head for making her upset; it would turn into a huge fight. _

"_You're bluffing" He hissed _

"_Am I?" She replied, before looking to the top of the stairs _

_Outside the underground hideout, the others were waiting. One noise could bring them down here, they both knew that. _

"_You wouldn't…" The green ranger glared _

_Smirking, she let out sounds that to someone unable to see her sounded like crying. It was loud, there was no doubt they could hear. The sounds of four sets of feet was heard, she looked to her victim._

"_So?" She asked, the answer was going to influence what she told the others _

"_Fine" He snarled, right before the others entered _

_The tears stopped, but the others rangers could see the fake tears. _

"_What happened?" Blake asked in concern, the others having the same question on their mind _

"_I slipped down the stairs coming to get Cam, just a little sore" Wincing on cue as they expected, they bought the lie hook, line and sinker. Wiping the tear drop shapes off her skin, her mode brightened enough to show that she was okay. That it wasn't anything serious. _

"_Aw, did the little Tor-Tor get a boo-boo?" Shane smiled, she pouted, and the others laughed. _

"_Are we going or what?" The yellow ranger asked, they were going to the movies, guess who picked out the "totally awesome" action flick? _

"_Let's go then" She replied, going up the stairs with them behind…_

…_with Cam glaring daggers at the back of her head. _

She had bridged the gap between him and the others, making sure he was involved with their plans to go out and such. And like all the others, he was there for her.

**Hunter. **

"_We didn't mean…" _

He had been hard to figure out; not that she cared. Being the brooding silent type, it had been hard to break his shell. When the crimson ranger had first appeared with his brother, she had decided to get to know him. Not that he had agreed with it in the beginning, pushing her away. But finally she had broken down the walls he had built and he had joined the others. For some reason, she had felt like she had needed to prove herself more to him. He was strong, tall, and very cocky. She hadn't wanted to feel the weak one in the group, but of course he saw her that way.

_She saw it, the single kelzak aiming for the blind spot of her ally. Streaking across the space between them, the monster's attack was blocked. The crimson ranger was safe, a small smile appeared on her face from the good deed. Falling to its knees, she turned so the sparks of its destruction was felt by her back. _

_That turned out to not be the best decision though, as a moment later the air was forced from her lungs by the person she had just saved. He had brought his thunder staff back to what he thought was empty space, it wasn't. _

_She winced, which reached his ears. _

_He turned to look at her clutching his stomach. Considering that the only enemies left were a few foot soldiers that the others were quickly getting rid off, they both demorphed. _

"_You okay?" _

_She nodded, the pain slightly fading. _

"_What were you doing?" His question pissed her off, the answer was simple _

"_Saving your ass" She pointed to the remains of thing that had almost gotten the jump on him _

"_Thanks" He said in partial sarcasm, she knew he meant it _

_While Hunter was not the most emotional person she knew, that would be Dustin, she knew that he was grateful. Even if he wouldn't accept the fact that he had been saved by a girl. His gaze was of complete concern and she knew that even if he didn't say it, he was glad she was there. _

"_You're are welcome, idiot" The last part was to piss him off and it did _

"_Me? You are the one that got it my way!" _

"_You should have been watching you back!" _

"_That's what you are for!" _

"_Then why did you hit my when I saved you?" _

_The blond had nothing to say back, so they glared for a moment. _

"_I said thank you" He shot back _

"_And I said you're welcome" She replied sweetly _

"_Then why did you call me an idiot?" _

"_Because you are one" _

"_I am not" _

"_Are too" _

"_Well you're stupid" _

"_Why?" _

"_For arguing with me when you're wrong" _

"_What am I wrong about?" _

"_Me being an idiot" _

"_Well you are" _

"_Am not!" _

"_Are too!" _

"_AM NOT!"  
_

"_ARE TOO!" _

_They kept bickering, attracting an audience of their fellow rangers. The others rolled their eyes at them, but what they couldn't see was the expressions on both their faces. _

_Yes, the fight was stupid. _

_Yes, they were both stupid for arguing that they weren't stupid. _

_Yes, from the outside the argument looked completely and utterly idiotic. _

_But she ignored them, arguing with the tall male that she had saved. _

_Doing so with a smile on her face. _

He was argumentive and an instigator, but that was what made him the crimson ranger. Many times she had hit him upside the head for the pure excuse that he was being Hunter. A silent brooding idiot with a huge smile and a wicked sense of humor.

**Dustin. **

A little ball of energy, that's what she had classified him as. Usually covered in dirt, with a wide smile on his face, that was his style. In the beginning, he had found her. All those years ago, when they were both still came only to their mothers' waists. They had been strangers, in till he did something that he had been doing for years now…

_Mud. _

_She gasped, too horrified to scream. _

_She had been looking in a large puddle of water, at the reflection of the blond hair wrapped behind her ears._

_But now she was covered in it. _

_Looking in the now murky puddle, she only saw a dark brown monster. Her new outfit was ruined, the light blue pants and shirt covered in slimy wet dirt. What had happened? All she knew was that she had been hit by it. _

_Her eyes narrowed, better question was who had done it? _

_Looking around, she found the person responsible. _

_**Him**__. _

_A small boy was playing a few feet away in a swamp of water and dirt. Covered in it, the only thing visible were two dark brown eyes, a mess of brown hair, and a big smile. It was weird that two rows of white teeth stood out among the dark dirt. Seeming to fully enjoy it, he looked perfectly at home. _

_Then he looked up to see her. _

"_Sorry dudette!" A small voice came from him, the smile grew even bigger _

_Her anger dissipated a bit, he seemed to be sincerely sorry. _

_Not that it changed the fact that she was covered in…_

_More splashed on her as he brought his hands down to smack the bottom of the murky water. _

…_dirt. _

"_Why did you do that?" Her slightly higher voice snapped _

"_Cus" He fumbled the squishy material in his hands _

"_Cus why?" Again she asked _

"_Cus I wanted to get your attention" He replied in a voice that was sweet_

"_Why didn't you just say my name?" That would have obviously been easier _

"_I don't know your name" He said, she mentally slapped herself _

_Of course he couldn't have said her name, he was a complete stranger. The closes he could have come was saying "Hey blondie!" Which would have angered her more than the mud. _

"_My name's Dustin" The kid said standing up _

"_Tori" She replied, as they stood eye to eye_

"_Mud pie?" She looked at the object in his hand _

_It was made of the same stuff she was covered in, except that not he was offering it to her. Why did he think she wanted a mud thingy? It was squishy and nasty, not like the sand when they went to the beach. _

"_Why are you giving me one?" She was curious to see what his answer was; maybe it would help her make up her mind on if she should take it. _

"_So we can be friends" Dustin said, his voice taking a slightly softer turn _

_This confused her even more, she repeated the word. _

"_Friends?" He looked towards the ground, looking embarrassed or something _

"_I don't have a lot of friends to give them to and um…" He swirled the muddy water with his shoe "…you looked like you would want one" _

_Was he asking her to be friends with her? Not that she didn't have friends, she went on play dates and stuff, but this had to be the strangest way to make a friend that she had ever seen. He seemed kind, she felt a need to be near him. Like his presence brought joy, which was interesting to someone her age. _

_There was silence between them for a moment. _

_He was obviously waiting for an answer, but the look on his face made her feel that she had already said no. How many times had he been turned down? Pity welled up in her, also with anger. Who would say no to him? Oh that's right, she just might. The boy names Dustin must be shy, because the couple sentences he had said had already made his smile grow smaller. _

_Then she made her decision, what to answer. _

_Dropping to one knee, she brought clumps of the stuff that was drying on her together. Finally coming up with a decent sized object, she stood back up. Holding out to him, she said "Mud pie Dustin?" _

_Then the smile grew and with a new found happiness he replied "Sure!" _

_Dropping his own, he took the one she had made from her and met her gaze.  
_

_She had just made a new friend. _

_He went back to the mud hole, motioning for her to follow. Looking down at herself, she realized that she couldn't get much dirtier. Even though her mother wasn't going to be happy, she joined him. He splashed her a little bit, the smile turned mischievous. To retaliate, she did the same. _

"_Dirt boy" She muttered under her breath, he chuckled _

_For some reason she had a feeling that it was going to be a long friendship with him, little did she know she would be right. _

A dirt boy he was, but he was also goofy and kind. He was there for a random hug when she needed it, to crack a joke when she was down. They came together over mud, which they found out later was perfect. He had supplied the mud; she had given him a chance. And the rewards had been purely worth it, there was no doubt it her mind.

**Shane. **

"_We never meant…" _

It had not been a surprise to her when it had turned out that he was to be an air ninja. He was cool, calm, and collected; like the wind. He could waste the entire day doing nothing and be happy that he accomplished nothing. A productive day to him meant hanging out with them and getting a little skateboarding in. But he also could be fierce and protective. A bad day for him meant that his skateboard had broken, his older brother was coming to town, or something (whether it was minor or major) had happened to the two of them. It also had not been a surprise when he became the red ranger. He had always been the leader of their threesome, keeping them out of danger and such. Shane was easy going, but also a tornado at times. He was always looking out for them, not that they needed it. Most of the time it was for his peace of mind that he knew that his two best buds were safe. She had thought this attitude, one of an alpha male, to be childish once. How he would growl at guys looking at her the wrong ways or how he would insist on being with Dustin after a race when all the losers' dirty looks were on the yellow's back. Then she discovered why he guarded them like he did…

_She stepped out of her van, grabbing her purse before locking the door. Night at the movies, she was meeting the two boys here to spend a bunch of money. Not that they cared, it was like a movie marathon but here they could share a giant soda with a generous amount of popcorn between them, both with free refills. Shane would buy the popped corn, Dustin the drink, and she would sneak in a giant back of skittles. That's why she had the purse, it was useless otherwise. _

_Walking through the parked cars to the entrance of the theater, she saw them standing at the front, waiting for her. The boy in yellow was leaning against a wall, talking to the darker male. The skateboarder was responding, but also scanning the darkness for…_

_Me, she sighed. _

_Shane was protective. _

_Scratch that, very overprotective. They could never get the reason out of him, although she vowed she would one day. Muttering under her breath how long is was taking to get up there, she began thinking of the movies they were going to see. _

_An action for Dustin the adrenaline junkie. _

_An adventure for Shane the detective. _

_And a comedy for…_

_A hang shot out to grab her arm, in automatic response she jerked away. But the grip was tight; she twisted while growling in frustration. _

"_Hand over the purse" A deep voice, obviously male, hissed _

_Great, she was getting robbed. _

_About to call for help, another hand hovered over her throat. _

"_One word and you'll be gasping for breath" _

_Fudge, there went her plan._

_Now normally she would have surrendered what he wanted, but the guy was pissing her off and she wasn't about to let him get his way. Clutching the bag closer, she lashed out at his face. Her rough nails made contact; she ripped her arm out of his hold. Running for the lights that illuminated her friends, heavy footsteps followed. _

_Sprinting, she hoped to get there before…_

_Tearing pain into her arm, the same figure growled at he squeezed her wrist tighter. _

"_Bitch" _

_Like I haven't been called that before, she thought. His other hand went to her shoulder bag, she had lost. Looking back to where she would go in a moment to join her friends, she saw they weren't there. _

_Where had they…_

"_HEY!" _

_Both of their heads turned to see Dustin waving his arms. Great rescue, she thought, but the thing was that it wasn't a rescue. The two of them could have come up with something better than that, unless the yellow was a…_

_No matter how much it hurt, she yanked herself away from her attacker just in time for Shane to slam forcefully into him. Both went to the ground as she stumbled to the side. Punches were delivered to the robber, which considering how angry the dark haired male was, were pretty soft. _

"_Your okay?" Taking her eyes off the fight, she saw Dustin looking at her arm _

_She nodded. Bruises were probably going to show, but other than that she would be fine. _

"_Nice distraction" She complimented, as pleads for mercy came from the onslaught_

"_Shane's idea" Dustin replied, as Shane finally stood to release the very sorry attacker from his grasp _

_The stranger took off, leaving the purse and a very angry male snarling. _

"_You better run" The hissed sentence wasn't heard by the one it was meant for, but neither of the three cared _

_The red wearing Shane turned to look at her "Are you okay?" The tone was softer as he came closer, anger dissipating from his face to be replaced with concern. _

"_Yes" She knew a verbal confirmation would be better than nodding her head._

_Picking her scuffed bag from the ground, he handed it to her. _

"_We don't have to…" She cut him off, the idea that a simple robbing would keep her from the movies was ridicules, to her anyway. _

"_We are going to miss the first part of my movie!" She began walking to the front, with them following. _

_After buying the tickets, Dustin had offered to buy the concessions while they got seat. Handing the dirt boy money for his share, Shane had looked back to her when they were walking to their particular theater. _

"_Are you sure you're okay?" He was looking at her arm, which she found a moment later to be bruising _

_That did it; she had finally had enough of his ego. She had appreciated being rescued, but seriously… _

"_What is your deal?" She turned to look him in the eyes "You are like a mother bear, why are you so protective?" _

_The male shuffled under her gaze, she wondered if she would get an answer. _

"_Well…" He ran off_

_She tapped her foot, showing that she was growing tired of the silence. _

"_Porter was there for me during my high school years; defended me and made sure I didn't get beat up. He was protective of me and was always there…" Shane sighed for a movement; she wondered where this was going _

"_So you want to do the same?" She suggested _

"_I don't mean to be overprotective…" _

"_Well you are" He huffed at being interrupted _

"… _but I want to be there for you and Dustin. So whenever you need me, I can be there" It was said in a truthfully honest tone and it made sense. His bother had done for him what he wanted to do for them, it was really that simple. _

"_You are" She replied _

"_No, I am not. I could have stopped that guy…" He was referring to what just happened which pissed her off that he was blaming himself _

"_Shane, that was a surprise attack and besides you did a fine job getting rid of him" She shot back _

"_I should have walked you from your car, so you didn't get hurt" His gaze went down her slightly bruised arm _

"_I didn't get hurt! And besides I had it under control!" The situation was really starting to annoy her _

_He snorted, ruining the serious moment. _

"_You had it under control?" _

"_I did!" _

"_So I didn't need to pound the guy?" _

"_No" _

"_Bullshit" _

"_Is not" _

"_Right" _

"_Dudes!" They both turned to see Dustin buried in snacks glaring at them _

"_What?" They both asked at the same time _

"_You were supposed to get seats!" _

_A weighed down Dustin disappeared into the theater, they followed. _

"_You won't always be there" She whispered as they entered the silent area _

"_I know, but I…" She cut him off _

"_Want to be there, I know" He glared as they looked for their friend _

"_Mother bear" She mumbled _

_He growled in annoyance, which obviously alerted Dustin to their position. _

"_Dudes!" A whispered word came from somewhere; they tried to find their seats _

_Finally finding them, it turned out that Shane was in the middle, which meant he held the popcorn. Digging into the fattening goodness, she turned her attention to the screen. Then she remembered something and so she leaned over to be close to his ear. _

"_Thanks for being there tonight" _

_He didn't turn, but instead a small smile came to his face. _

_Turning back to the movie, she knew that he was protective. _

_But for good reason._

He might be a mother bear, but he believed in them, in her. When they had become rangers, she had seen the worried look on his face. But he had gotten over it and although he still scared off guys that tried to hit on her, he was there. He must have gotten the big brother instincts from his sibling, because he made an excellent brother to her. And she wouldn't have traded his easy going, stubborn, and protective nature for anything.

**Blake. **

"_I don't know what they did…but can't we just talk about it?" _

Another tear ran down her cheek, the one name hurting her more than the others.

The navy ranger was like the others, yet not. He was easy going, kind, protective, all of the above and yet…When they had first met he seemed like just another person, they had gotten along well. Then he had ripped out her heart by betraying them, leaving her alone in pieces. Much like she had done to them. While he was gone, he was on her mind and she didn't know why. Perhaps it was because of the things she didn't get to say or maybe it was because she…Then he had reappeared with apologizes and guilt, without a second thought she accepted them back with a smile. Truth was that she glad to have them…him back.

_The sky was dark, as was the interior of the van. _

_Training had been hard that day, they were all exhausted. Plus the other wind ninjas were still wary of the thunders, even though in the end they were on the same team now. She had tried to accept them, but the truth was that she was still hurt about what happened. _

_Overall it was quite, Dustin dozing in the front seat with Shane rubbing his eyes once in a while, trying to stay awake long enough to drive. He had volunteered to drive, she had been too tried to say no. At the moment she was between the two ninjas that had caused so much…trouble, pain, whatever you wanted to say. _

_Coming back, they had apologized in every way they could think of and even though they were getting over it, Dustin still felt betrayed, Shane still felt double crossed, and she still felt…_

"_Are we there yet?" Hunter said sleepily from her left side _

"_In a minute" She heard the red ranger mutter back _

_Seeming somewhat satisfied with the answer, the other red leaned against the window, looking out into the night's sky. He was trying to stay awake, but she saw the blonde's eyelids drooping with each passing moment. _

_Sleepiness began to creep, making her yawn. That of course set off a chain reaction of yawns, the last one being the person to her right. Closing her eyes for a moment, just to rest them, she wondered why he was on her mind. _

_Blake wasn't anything special, just another ninja. It wasn't how he rode his bike or how he joked around, what was it? She couldn't think of an answer, not that she wanted to as she felt the feeling of sleep coming over her. _

_Then she felt something under her head, firm and warm. Opening her eyes a bit, she saw that she had shifted to the right. It hit her; she was leaning on Blake's shoulder! She hadn't meant to, she had just fallen that way. Or was it something more? _

_She didn't care at the moment, lifting her head up a bit before something stopped her. _

"_I don't mind" _

_His voice was comforting, not as deep as the others. The single sentence was softly said, that it only reached her ears and not the others. Wondering what she should do, her head hovered for a moment. Then the feeling of exhaustion overcame her and she returned to laying her head on the covered skin. It was comfortable; she could just imagine him smirking. _

"_Enjoying this are you?" Again only the navy ranger heard her words; she felt his body move as he silently chuckled _

_Now in a position of comfort, sweet sleep came to her. Rest was what she needed, that and to know what he thought of her. Was it just a friendly gesture that he let her sleep on his shoulder or something else entirely? She couldn't think of an answer, she just enjoyed her place. _

_Snuggling a bit closer subconsciously, the added body heat sent her spiraling into where she wanted to be, which was sleeping. _

_Then he said something, something he thought she wouldn't hear. _

_But she did and a smile came to her face as she faded. _

"_More than you'll ever know" _

He was amazingly patient, which was good because her life was exactly normal, well his wasn't either. The question which came to her mind was what was her relationship with him? They weren't exactly friends, but they seemed like more. He was shy and she had a feeling that there was something that he had wanted to tell her…but she had disappeared before he could. What had she not heard? It probably wasn't something serious, like that he loved her or anything…But what if that had been it?

She curled into the comforter for heat, but she was still cold. Perhaps it was just a dream, she was lying on his shoulder now asleep and this was just a horrible nightmare.

Thing was that it wasn't, three words told her it to be true.

She had left.

Tears ran as she buried her face in the pillow.

She had shattered the team and no matter the reason, no matter what they had done, she wished she could take it back.

Take it back to where they were still a team, where they were still whole.

Take it back…

To where she was dragging Cam out.

To where she was yelling at Hunter.

To where she was making mud pies with Dustin.

To where she was getting the truth from Shane.

To where she…

Sobs rang out; she didn't care if Kira or the others heard.

She wanted them back, for her boys to be by her side.

Most of all, she wanted…

Him.

* * *

Something had happened, that much she knew.

But what?

At the moment, the two word question was driving her crazy; it was doing the same to her teammates. They had all been there when a fellow ranger; a close friend to her, had collapsed. She had been fine in till Ethan had asked…

"Do you think something to the others?"

The yellow dino ranger looked up to meet Conner's gaze. It must be a red thing, she decided, because he was taking personal responsibility for what had happened. They were all taking it hard, it wasn't every day that a veteran ranger appeared and then fell unconscious. Currently they were at their mentor's secluded house, the bedroom closes to them occupied by the blue ranger.

"I doubt it" She replied, gaining the attention of all three males

"But you saw…" She cut Ethan off; they all knew what he meant. The tears, the look of shock plastered on her face, and the internal panic. They had all seen it, they knew.

"I don't think that her team was attacked. If they had been, she would be injured and I doubt that she would have left them if something had happened" She explained her former answer

"Then why…" Trent ran off

"Maybe they got in a fight" The leader of their team suggested

She nodded "I told Tori that if she ever needed to get away from them that she could crash at my place anytime"

They were silent for a moment.

The four knew that ever team had their struggles, but never had they heard of a ranger leaving their team. It brought a new question to the table; what had happened that had Tori come to them?

"Do you think we should contact them?" They all knew what Ethan meant and no one wanted to answer. Would it be a good idea to bring the other team here, would the outcome be good?

"No, if she came here then that means tat she doesn't want to be near them. We should respect her wishes; she will contact them when she wants to…" Kira ran off, you could have heard a pin drop. They all thought the same thing, Tori could contact them later, _if _she wanted to.

"I agree, we let her decide" Conner supported her, like he usually did

The other two nodded, it had been decided.

"Whatever happened…" Her tone was low "…I have a feeling that it was big"

A moment after the sentence left her mouth, sobs were heard from inside the bedroom.

They all stared at the door, a question echoing their minds.

What had happened?

* * *

Tapping her fingers against the steering wheel, she watched the road in boredom. Finally they were in the direction that they were supposed to be going. How long till they got there, she didn't know.

It had taken her a while to get Maddie back into the backseat, where she was curled up into a ball while sleeping. She was angry that her sister was going through so much pain, the blue ranger shouldn't have to.

They were almost there and then maybe they could just forget…

"_This is Tony Green for live news: A report of another monster attack is coming from Briarwood…" _

She turned the radio up a small bit, it had mostly been for background music before, but she couldn't help but listen to the news coming through.

"_The rangers are dealing with the threat, but early on in the battle one of them seemed to be injured…" _

Her blood froze, who had it been?

She had known that they would be in danger if they left, two rangers down is a bad place to be. But in the moment she hadn't cared, she had just wanted to get herself and Maddie away from them.

Calm down, she thought, who ever had been injured (She suspected Nick), the others would make sure that he would be…

"_The yellow ranger seems to be acting recklessly despite his injury…" _

Her eyes went wide.

"Chip" She whispered, tears welled up

He was her best friend; he must be taking it hard. That was an understatement, she knew that they were all taking it hard but he was risking his life? What was he doing? He never acted erratically, always being careful.

Gripping the steering wheel harder, she wanted to slap him.

Send him to the ground for being an idiot and then give him a…

They're friendship was one that could only be compared to the sisterly bonds she shared with Maddie. Yeah, she was friends with Nick and Xander, but she had known Chip since…forever.

Was she doing the right thing? She considered going back, just to figure it out. No, she knew it couldn't be solved like everything else had in the past. But she wanted it to be tat way, although this situation was different.

She wished she could go back, ignore the others and just go straight to him.

Slap his for risking his life for no god damn good reason and then kiss him. Not a quick peck, but a deep kiss. To give him one was something she had wanted to do for years now. But she hadn't wanted to ruin their friendship; Chip had never shown any hints of the same feelings.

Many times she had tried to reveal her emotions, but she had chickened out each and every time…

"_Hey Chip" She tried to sound smooth, even though her heart was beating so fast _

_He turned to give her a smile, one that said his entire day had lit up with her presence. But all he said was "Vida, what's up?" But the sentence was enough for her, it was simple and beautiful. _

"_Nothing much, how's your day?" The entire time she looked into his eyes, feeling herself becoming lightheaded _

"_It's okay, it's just I am really looking forward to…" He went into explaining an entire paragraph answer for the question, but she didn't hear anything past the first few words. _

_Like most days, he was wearing a cape, which covered the back of his toned body. He had been teased about it in the past; let's just say that she had put a stop to it. No one messed with her Chip, he was hers. No matter what anyone said, he had always been hers. Only now it wasn't on a friend level, she was sure of it…she was in love with him. _

_But she could never tell him, Maddie was sworn to secrecy. She had assumed the truth when she had caught the two talking one day. From the outside it had looked like a normal conversation, but then if you had looked into her eyes, which her sister had, you could see her practically sending hearts to the yellow ranger. _

"_V?" A tap on the shoulder broke her from her thoughts. He waved her hand in front of her face "Earth to Vida, do you copy?" _

_She smiled "This is Vida, I copy" _

_Their conversation after that didn't matter; all that did matter was that he was there. _

_And so was she. _

He was a goofball, but he was her goofball.

She considered turning around, but then stopped herself. Even if she and Chip worked it out, Maddie would be lost. It would crush her to go back, to see Nick again. She wouldn't do that to her sister, no matter what pain it brought her.

Her sister came first, even though her heart said that he did.

Then she saw a sign that pushed him to the back of her mind.

**Welcome to Reefside**

No matter what was going on or how she felt, one thing was true…

They had made it.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

So the girls are all together, will they share their reasons for being there?

Will the guys ever get their act together?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	10. Encounters of the Hostile Kind

We got to chapter 10! *Happy Dance*

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: It's cold outside! Brrrrrr! There's snow, ice, and shit; the schools have been shut down since Monday…winter had begun!

ANNN: This is neither a boys nor a girls nor a mystic nor a ninja chapter…they are all together on this one!

* * *

Looking from his place in the driver's seat, the crimson ranger found that all the members of the team were sleeping…except for one that was glaring at the back of his head.

He sighed, before turning his eyes back to the road.

It had been a simple task.

Simple in the same context that one would use in describing wrestling a terribly irritated grizzly bear.

One would assume that since there was a four to one ratio, the task would have been a simplistic one. But their opponent was frazzled, frayed, and fed up; which made it very difficult to reason with him. Seeing that they were trying to calm him down, their fellow ranger, who wanted nothing to do with them at the moment, had taken off. With a groan, they had followed; save Cam who locked the van before catching up.

When they had gotten out of view from the public, the one they were sprinting after decided to bring his ninja powers into it. In response, the four of them had streaked after him, but somehow he had dodged all their tries to grab him. The group had attempted to corner the air ninja, but that had just ended with them colliding with each other. The chase had finally ended when he had tackled Shane. They had gone down in a pile of limbs, with them both snarling at each other.

"_Get the fuck off of me!" _

"_I will when you calm the fuck down!" _

That had gone well; the others arrived a moment afterwards. That's when Dustin hauled his friend up and dragged him away from the group for a moment to yell at him. Most of the conversation was heard by them as they waited for the two wind rangers to finish talking; the first part was not pleasant.

"_What would Tori think of this dude?"_

"_I…" _

"_She would be ashamed that we can't handle ourselves better and you know that she would be fucking shocked to find out that you can't handle your team!" _

"_Well if you idiots could fucking control yourselves then we would still be driving! You seriously couldn't find anything better to do than fight? You're right, I am the leader. But that does not mean that I have to be your fucking mother, you should know how to entertain yourselves! I shouldn't have to ask you to shut up, it should be common sense!" _

"_Shane, we're all just worried about Tor. We are trying to cope with her not being here, it's weird not being snapped at by her. She would have been the one that would have told us to be quiet, to stop fighting." _

"_I know, it's just frustrating" _

"_How long had it been since breakfast?" _

"_Seriously, you are thinking about food?" _

"_I did ask you to stop at McDonalds" _

"_You should have been listening to my rant" _

"_Whatever dude…are you hungry?" _

"_Yeah" _

"_Let's get something to eat, talk about this, and then you can decide if you want to come to Briarwood with us. Can you at least eat with us?" _

"…"

"_I'll buy you a kid's meal" _

"_Why the fuck would I want a kid's meal?" _

"_Red ranger action figure comes with it" _

"…_So?" _

"_You're a red ranger" _

"_And?" _

"_So, you don't want a red ranger toy, even though you are the red ranger of out team?" _

"_Yep" _

"_Fine, I'll give it to Hunter" _

"_You can't" _

"_Why?" _

"_Because" _

"_Because why?" _

"_It's red not crimson" _

"_And your point is?" _

"_It's mine" _

"_I thought you didn't want it" _

"_Doesn't matter, it goes to me" _

"_Right" _

"_It does" _

"_So you don't want the toy, but it goes to you by default?" _

"_Yes" _

"_Bullshit" _

"_Is not! That's how color stuff works with the teams; you get your color in any item no matter what" _

"_So if I was to give it to Hunter, I would be violating this "rule" that is imposed on all teams without their notice?" _

"_That is correct" _

"_Hey Hunter! Do you want a…" _

"_MINE!" _

With Shane hell bent on getting a mini red ranger, they had gone to McDonalds. Twenty dollars of dollar menu greasy food later, the situation had calmed down. But then another crisis had emerged, their red ranger couldn't find his toy…

"You are an asshole"

Breaking him from his thoughts was the person who wanted to currently rip his eyes out.

"It was a good idea, admit it" Hunter replied, hoping that Shane wouldn't attack him

A growl came from the back; luckily it did not wake the others. He had thought it had been a good idea, stealing mini Shane to use as bait. Using the threat that the toy would be thrown into the river, he had coaxed the red ninja into the van. The others had locked the door behind him, trapping him. He had taken the next shift to drive and Dustin had sat in the back to make sure that he wasn't attacked from behind.

"Bastard" Shane hissed, clutching the thumb size ranger in hand

With bellies full, the others had dozed. They were still sleeping, which just left him and a very pissed off leader. They had apologized for their actions earlier, but Shane had not seemed to care; focusing on trying to burn a hole in his head.

He really wanted to get past it, if they didn't it would screw with the entire trip; because if there was one thing he knew about Shane, the dude held a grudge for a while.

"Look, I'm sorry about taking mini Shane"

Instead of another growl, he heard a chuckle "It's cool"

He was tempted to look back to meet the other's reds gaze, but instead kept his eyes on the road "Weren't you just mad at me?"

"Yeah, but you apologized; so it's cool…"

That was bizarre, then he heard the other part of Shane's sentence "…plus you took him because you were jealous"

He snorted "Jealous of what?"

"That there was a red ranger and not crimson" He just knew that there was a smirk on the other's face

He tried to think of a reason, thing was that it was pissing him off that there hadn't been a crimson ranger. "They probably thought that crimson and red were the same" They should have the whole team, thing was that they hadn't; which pissed him off even more.

"That or you are just not popular" There was a chuckle behind the statement, Shane knew he was getting to him

"Out of the two of us, I am the cooler ranger" Hunter shot back

"I wasn't evil"

"Evil rangers are more popular than good ones"

"But the red ranger gets more attention than the rest"

"Evil rangers have more fun"

"Getting your asses kick was fun was fun wasn't it?"

Rolling his eyes he replied "Go to hell"

"Too late"

Hunter smirked; this was how it was suppose to be. The two of them arguing about idiotic things and the others watching from the sidelines. Thing was that they were missing one thing…

"It could be worse" He tried to be optimistic

"How so?" Shane couldn't wait to hear this, how could it be worse than it already was? He really couldn't think of anything else that could make his life any worse.

"We could have lost to Lothor, Blake and I could still be evil, we could be listening to Hannah Montana…"

Shane shivered at the last one; the thought of it was horrifying.

"…you're tantrum could have turned into a brawl in that gas station's parking lot…"

"I would have kicked your asses" The red ranger said

"Four to one? You're not that good" Hunter replied

"Whatever…"

"Where was I? Oh right…we could have been arrested for disturbing the peace"

"That would have been fun" Shane muttered

"We could have…WHAT THE HELL!"

There was nothing that Shane could say, before the van swerved, sending him smack into the metal wall of the van.

* * *

Despite the fact that they had tried their hardest with their decreased numbers, the monster was still fighting and it had grown. The situation was no one he had wanted to be in, but no matter what he wanted; they were here. Although they were two rangers down, they were still able to fight.

"On your left" He heard Daggeron warn Chip

The yellow ranger had been reckless after waking up, which slightly disturbed him. Chip was normally very careful, but he knew what was going on. It was Vida; he was trying to do something drastic on hope that she would come back. He wanted to tell the lightning ranger that it was a stupid and foolish idea, but at the moment; he was considering doing the same thing. Maybe Maddie would…

"WATCH IT!"

The blasted warning came over the intercom just in time for him to see a shot coming his way. Quickly rolling out of the way, he felt his robot foot come down on something harder than the usual dirt. He looked down to see that it was concrete, wonderful. He had fucked up the highway.

Turning back to the fight, he saw that the monster had already been taken down by the oldest ranger. He sighed, could he do anything right? He had been completely useless the entire day. The only thing he was good at was screwing up. First he had fought with Xander, then he had let Chip get hurt, and now he had completely destroyed one part of the road.

"You're an idiot" He heard Xander growl

"If you say something about Maddie, I swear that I will…" He snarled in response

"You almost CRUSHED A CAR!" Chip roared

Nick looked onto the highway to see a van speeding away like it was been chased by the devil. That or a huge zord…

"It wasn't like I was trying to hit it!"

He heard them scold and yell, but he blocked them out. So he had driven Maddie away, pushed his teammates to the brink of insanity, and almost killed innocent people.

Fuck my life, he thought as his robotic zord disappeared and he was left to the wolfs…

…also known as his teammates.

* * *

Again the van swerved, throwing Shane into Dustin and the navy and green rangers into the passenger side door. They all groaned, all while the engine was gunned.

"What the fuck was that?" Shane leaned over the seat, the others all getting their bearings before crowding around the very focused driver. Hunter ignored the question, gripping the steering wheel as he took each turn like it was their last. Lucky for them there were no police on the road and there were not cars to worry about. There was a gleam in his eye, one that said that there was no fucking way he was stopping.

"Bro?" Blake was concerned, the only time he had seen his elder this way was when they had fled the Thunder Academy when it was being attacked.

"Look out the window" Those were the only words that the other thunder ninja spoke as the speedometer was approaching ninety. The four did so, seeing a scene that they had seen many times, but from a different perspective.

A foot of a giant zord was where they had been moments ago; thankfully they were not crushed thanks to the darker shade of red. They watched the team battling it defeat the giant monster, a wall of flame falling behind them.

"Didn't Tori say that there was a team here?" Dustin mumbled

"Mystic something, there are two girls on their team" Cam replied, the full name not coming to him right now. The green ranger mentally slapped himself, where would a female ranger go? To other female rangers, it was that simple.

"We need to talk to them" Shane said, they all nodded

So at a speed that could be compared to one used to flee hell, they went to Briarwood with one task in mind.

Find Tori.

* * *

Maddie was excited.

Somehow she had blocked out their team and Nick to think about the possibility of seeing Kira again. They had met on accident a while ago and the four, Tori included, had formed a girls alliance. This meant that if one of them needed help, girl troubles; they would be there. And besides that, it would be good to see another female ranger. Not to say that her sister wasn't good company, but she wanted to talk to someone else.

The car pulled up a long road, which matched Kira's description of her ranger HQ perfectly.

"It's secluded and private" She muttered

"And in the middle of nowhere" Vida added

"Perfect" They said at the same time

Stopping out front, they climbed out to stretch. It had been a long trip, but she was beginning to think that it had been worth it.

"Hey!"

They both sunk into defensive positions on instinct, but relaxed when they realized that it wasn't a threat, or not yet anyway.

"Vida and Maddie right? Kira told us about you" The African American male said with a smile

Must be her teammate, she thought, but which one…

"_The blue on my team is a tech genius; you would get along well with him Maddie…" _

"Ethan" She said, smiling back at the fellow blue

"That's me, are you here to see Kira?" They nodded, following their fellow ranger towards the house. But before they could step inside, there was a flash of red.

"Hi! My name's Conner, but you probably already knew that. So why are you guys here? To see Kira? Well that's cool; it's been kind of boring around here since…." He kept rambling, but she didn't notice

She only focused on the color.

Red.

It could have meant anything.

Roses.

Blood.

Sunsets.

Fire Truck.

Fire.

She began to back away, ignoring the calls of the others.

Red.

Fire.

It could have meant anything to her, but one thing was burned into her brain.

Fire.

Red.

One thing, it was connected with pain.

Fire; Red.

Red; Fire.

One person…

Nick.

* * *

She saw her sister's shocked gaze as she moved back away from the red ranger.

Vida growled, the male was a threat.

Out of big sister instincts, she did what she did best.

Defend her sister.

Locking onto her target, she snarled…

...and launched herself at the hyperactive one known as Conner.

* * *

"You okay?"

The dark room was split by a stream of light.

"Yeah, I…" She was cut off by Kira

"You don't need to share unless you want too"

She nodded gratefully, receiving a hug later.

"KIRA!"

The call put the two on high alert, dashing from the room. Winding through the house, they came across a sight that they thought could, but never would, happen.

There was Trent, Ethan, and Dr. O trying to pull Vida off of Conner. The pink ranger was snarling like an enraged animal, resisting their attempts pretty well. All while trying to claw the red's eyes out.

Then they heard a stifled sob.

"Maddie" The two said, looking at the trembling ranger

"You get Vida, I got her" Kira nodded, going to assist; as Tori went over to her fellow water ranger

"Hey…" The blond said softly

"Tori" The darker haired girl met her gaze with red eyes

Then there were no more words, as two arms were wrapped around her. If there was someone that could help Maddie, Tori knew it was her. They were both blue, they both controlled water. Squeezing the other girl a bit tighter, she made sure that Maddie knew she was there.

She felt water hit her bare shoulder, sobs reaching her ears.

Everything else faded as she stood there, the other ranger clinging to her.

"I'm here" She whispered in the other's ear

The tears increased, but she didn't care.

There were only two things that mattered.

Maddie had needed her…

…and she was there.

* * *

**Reviews? Please! **

Will the Ninjas get along with the Mystics?

Can they work together to find their gals?

Will Vida seriously injure Conner?

Can the Dinos ever find out what is going on?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	11. Anger and Answers

Say it with me! Chapter 11!

Me no own Ninjas or Dinos or Mystics. In more intelligent aspect, they aren't mine, but I wish they were.

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: **Hiya! If you ignore all other another notes, MAKE SURE TO READ THIS ONE! Every review I get says to update quickly and not to even think about discontinuing the story, but here's the thing…It is a simple equation. **

**~Feedback about the chapter (Reviews) equals The motivation to do the next chapter which equals Me updating more frequently~ **

**So to get more of the story, I need a little information on how I'm doing. **

**Get it? **

**Got it? **

**Good. **

Now for your reading pleasure, this is the next chapter of the Hunt.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

"So is there any specific reason why there are three female rangers in my house?"

It was not normal to come home to chaos.

No matter what anybody said, thought, or knew; coming home to chaos was not normal.

It was true that his life wasn't normal, but seeing your student being attacked by someone that is obviously a ranger it a big step past the world of somewhat weirdness he lived in. Finally they had pulled the girl off of Conner and Kira had then dragged the snarling ranger away. Then there was Tori, who he was surprised to see again, holding a sobbing girl dressed in blue. The four girls had locked themselves in a bedroom, while he and the boys were wondering what the hell had happened.

They hadn't gotten an answer; they were still waiting for one.

Tommy Oliver, also known as Dr. O to the team, looked at the only female teammate on the team. She had appeared from the room a moment before and he intercepted, making it clear to the other males that his questions came first.

"Who said they were rangers?" His eyes narrowed, showing that he was not amused. He wanted the truth, as did the three boys listening in on the conversation. He knew that the blue ninja storm ranger was here, the other two dressed in a specific color, and the dark haired girl in blue had clutched to Tori…giving the assumption that they were the same color and/or power type. The evidence proved his statement correct, there was no way that she could deny that they were ranger, yet she was.

Yellows were always stubborn, he knew that personally.

"Tori is a ranger and the other two…" He was cut off, to his irritation.

"Vida and Maddie, their names are Vida and Maddie" The yellow dino met his gaze, making a statement. These were her sisters in crime fighting and she was being fiercely protective. The glare that she was giving said that if he made them leave, then she was leaving too.

"I'm not going to kick them out…" The spiked blacked haired man said softly, the threat turned into a thank you. He wasn't going to turn out three rangers who obviously needed help; it was against the responsibility of being a ranger himself. Being a mentor, he made sure that his group knew all they needed to know, he always tried to be there for them. He was the eldest of them all, he needed to be supporting. Which he was going to be, he was just curios. "…I just want to know why the hell they are in my house"

She nodded in understanding, but before Kira could answer; there was Conner "Was Vida the one that attacked me?"

"Yes, I did"

They all looked to see the other three girls exit the room, Tori leading the way. Her hand was entwined with the other blue's, in a reassuring gesture that said she wasn't going anywhere. The dark haired sisters were calmed down, no growling and no tears. The only remains that it had ever been there was red eyes and a warning glare to Conner.

The red ranger took a step back, but the only pink quickly set things straight.

"I didn't mean to…Maddie just looked so scared and I'm her big sister, it was a bad reaction…" The wind mystic ran off for a moment before taking a breath "…I'm sorry"

"Apology accepted, I was being a little hyper" The red dino took a step forward to support the statement, with a big smile.

"A little?" Ethan snorted

"Okay, a lot" The red rolled his eyes

"Damn straight" Trent smirked

"Perhaps introductions are in order?" Kira said, seeing that it would be best to do so at the moment

They all nodded, it was a good idea.

"I'm Conner, Red Dino Ranger" He held out his hand, which Vida shook almost immediately

"Vida, Pink Mystic Ranger" She replied, he didn't seem to have the macho crap going on. He was nice, she decided, and probably a much better leader than Nick.

"We met earlier, but my name Ethan and I'm blue of this team" Maddie shook his hand, she was glad that he sister was getting along with the others.

Then the once evil ranger took his turn "Trent, White Dino Ranger" He received handshakes from both of them and a hug from Tori as the others had.

The "old guy", as Conner once called him, then put on a warm expression and said in a comforting tone "Tommy, but call…"

"He's Dr. O!" Connor interjected before receiving a glare.

"Black Dino Ranger" The multicolored ranger finished

Finally, the timid ranger, who was still acting like she was glued to Tori's side, decided to finally speak "I'm Maddie"

"Nice to meet you" Trent said

"Good to see there's another blue" Ethan smiled, as did Tori

"Hi!"

She froze, it was the color.

Red.

"Was it something I said?" The leader of the dino's asked, confused

"It's not you, it's the color. Let's just say that she and our red had some…" Vida wasn't sure how to explain it

"Nick hurt her?"

Three words, it was a simple question; she knew exactly what they were asking.

She nodded.

That's when the fury known as female rangers was unleashed.

"THAT BASTARD!" The yellow dino hissed, her hands clutched into fists

"Now Kira, he's not a bastard…" The water blue was interrupted

"Really? Cus I know he is" Vida's voice told every word she spoke to be true; rage imbedded in each sound.

"He's not a bastard…" The blond took a breath before exploding "HE IS A FUCKING ASSHOLE!"

"I AM GOING TO KICK HIS ASS!" Kira growled

"Not if I get there first" Tori snarled

Then to the amusement of Vida, the horror of Maddie, and the shock of the men; the two rangers made plans of revenge. After all, along with being rangers, one of their best talents was scheming to bring another down.

"He will pay" The ninja smiled evilly, her expression was quickly matched by her fellow anger filled female. Her attitude at the moment reminded the other rangers of the time that she had attacked them, although she was evil; she had had the same look.

"Make him beg for forgiveness…I like it" A small but diabolical laugh escaped the dirty blonde with made the younger males twitch in fear.

"Calm down" Tommy knew that he needed to stop this before it got out of control; although he also knew that it was already beyond his control. But he had to try or god help the 'Nick' character that had caused the damage; because there was a decent possibility they would hear of a murder.

The black ranger knew the gleam in their eyes, having been on many teams; teammates with many female rangers as anger challenged as the two in the front of him. During that time he had learned early on that it was imperative not to induce rage on the females; not unless you wanted to die. It was impossible to figure out a woman's mind, many times he had failed trying to get inside how their brains worked; each team he had been on had made an attempt. In all those failed plans, he had learned one thing about the fertile side of the species known as Homo sapiens.

They were many things, but most of…

Never be enemies with them.

Cross them the wrong way, you just brought hell upon yourself. Then they would never forget the time, no matter how much time passed. Unless you were gracious in your apology and a suck up in every way, you would be avoided and ignored…or worse, screamed at. Flowers couldn't fix everything; neither could a thousand and one sorrys. Best way to avoid the flames of their fury was to be friends with them, never enemies, and always thing through your actions.

Females, especially yellows, were cunning and ruthless; able to bring a man (including a ranger) to his knees. Not only did they kick ass, they were destructive when they wanted to be; which meant destroying someone's property or emotions. They were also seductive, able to lure in their prey before pouncing to tear the unlucky soul apart. Innocent; able to get away with most anything. The opposite gender of his was definitely evil; there was no doubt in his mind of the many situations he had been in. They were aggressive, extremely protective; easily upset…the list went on and on. Thing was that they held many talents; all that aided them in their plans.

They said that the red ranger was the most powerful and while that might be true, there was no doubt in his mind that any females of a team were a very solid second. Arguing them did nothing if not anger them more, the only true thing to do was get out of the way. Once they were set on doing something, they wouldn't stop; not in till they had their revenge.

"He hurt Maddie; the bastard will **not** get away with it!" The element wielding ranger that was the same as the mystic glared with the intensity that made the veteran ranger feel a shiver run down his spine. "I will make sure he regrets every word he ever said"

"No one gets away with hurting one of our own" Kira cracked her knuckles loudly, her eyes narrowed at Connor. Not the male, not her teammate; the color. Red; she would personally make sure that Nick felt every stab of pain that the mystic had. He would pay, even if that meant with blood oozing from his battered body.

"No one." Both snarled, their growls harmonizing perfectly with the other

They agreed on many things, including the idea to make an alliance. Being outnumbered by their male teammates, having reassurance of back up was one to know of that calmed all their minds. Support, both physical and emotional, was something they had all agreed to lend at any moments notice. With the first part of the vow came the promises to keep the guys of a specific team in line; even if it meant going to war. She wasn't afraid of them, of the other mystic rangers; Nick would feel her wrath. He had never met him, but their first meeting was going to be from hell, for him anyway. She knew that Tori would be right there when the deed was done; helping her throw the traitor of a red threw a window. No matter what Dr. O said, no matter what the others did.

He would pay and there was nothing that would stop her.

"What did he do?"

The four looked to the males in the room, who at this point were hopelessly confused and almost mad from curiosity. The females' anger died down for a moment; but the flame was dimmed in hoping to hear of the horrid act that caused the feeling of pain in the mystics. Vida didn't want to share the story, it was painful. Not just for her sister's sake, but…Chip. She wasn't going to tell them…

"He…"

All eyes turned to the almost crumbled blue mystic, who rose to look at them. Breathing, she had decided to share and her sister squeezed her hand.

They said that the strongest was usually the bravest; Vida decided that that was bullshit. It took guts to explain why you were a mess. Why a color drove you to tears, why you were always crying. It took bravery to explain, not to close friends, but almost strangers who the only connection they had were all being rangers.

But her sister, the shyest on their team, the one that was protected, had decided to show the darkness in her heart.

She almost wished…

No, she wanted them to be here.

Nick to see the pain.

Xander to see the sorrow.

Chip to see the darkness.

She wanted them to see Maddie tell the tale of what split the team.

She wanted them to see her cry.

To see her shine.

* * *

"So how are we going to do this?"

The question was a simple one, but it puzzled them all to what the answer could possibly be. Even the intelligently based genius known as their personal tech support was stumped, but to his credit; a plan of how to approach a possibly hostile situation was not really his department.

Sitting in the van, staring into space while trying figure out how to handle their business was not what they expected when they arrived in Briarwood. They knew what they need to do, that was to find their missing member. But on the way to where they were now, the men never considered **what **they were going to do to find her once they got to the other team. Although it seemed ridicules, in the back of their minds they all had an image of her appearing out of no where when they entered the town. They weren't that lucky, it wasn't going to happen.

They knew that they had to talk to the other team, the question was: How the fuck were they going to it? Pissing off another team of rangers on their home turf was not a good idea; but on the other hand neither was waiting. You would think that between the five of them, that they could figure something out. But with the threat of angry rangers, angry female rangers, and angry Tori…the worse being crying Tori…. Looming over their heads, they were held back from making any real decision.

"We can't go in guns blazing" Hunter muttered, although they all wouldn't mind going with that plan. As Cam had estimated earlier, there were at most six rangers, and that wasn't bad odds for them. There were five of them and not to brag, but they were ninjas. They had taken on the Dinos, even though they had been evil at the time, how good could this team be? But like the green ranger had warned, that was only an educated guess he had made from knowing of what the other team's numbers had been in the past. Shane had then said that it wasn't worth the risk, even though they all knew that if they waited much longer, it might just come down to the crazy plan.

"We could kidnap one of them and make them tell us" Dustin suggested it as a joke, but partially in seriousness. At the moment, while the initial shock of losing her had worn off a bit, they were all ready to go into a war zone to retrieve her. There was no guarantee that she was here or that them talking to the other team would prove to be successful. It was easily plausible that they would start World War Three by doing something that would upset the other team. For example, kidnapping one of their team was a sure fire way to piss them off. But were they willing to risk it? In a heartbeat. There was no doubt of that.

"That's a great idea, especially since taking things of Tori's worked out so well last time!" Shane snapped, glaring at the yellow ranger for even suggesting such a thing.

"What do you mean last time?" Blake questioned

"Um…" The red ranger avoided eye contact, as did the other two who had been involved in whatever the hell had caused Tori to run off.

"That reminds me…" Cam glared "…you never told us what you three did"

If you thought about it, there were similarities between the navy and green ninjas.

One: They were both rangers.

Two: They both deeply cared about Tori, although Blake was slightly ahead in that department.

Three: They were both glaring at their fellow teammates, wondering what the fucking hell was being kept a secret from them!

"Tell us" The younger Bradley brother said firmly

"Now" The green samurai ranger added in the same tone, which said that they weren't fucking around.

They had let it slide while they had searched for their sixth member; quite frankly it had slipped their minds. But now, there was no reason why they shouldn't be told; they were going to get answers. Both had the same thought plastered in their minds, they weren't leaving the van till they had answers.

"Well, I…" Hunter attempted to answer, failing miserably when he caught their narrowed gazes

Two snorts were heard, telling the three with bowed heads to get talking…

…or get mauled by two ninjas that were not amused at all.

"You know what Blake"

"What Cam?"

"I think they should start talking"

"Really? Me too"

"Okay, okay! Stop with the weird back and forth" Dustin cracked, the two reds meeting his gaze before nodding their heads.

"It was a three part plan, we never meant…" Shane ran off

"We get it, just tell us" In truth, Blake didn't get what they did to upset her so bad; but he wanted to find out.

"I ruined her date" The red wind ranger said

Neither of them said anything, but on the inside the reaction was the same: _She had been on a date?_ Tori rarely went on dates, for the reason that they maybe scared all the guys off of her and partially because she wasn't into going on them.

Before they could ask a question though, Hunter continued.

"I stole her surfboard while she was yelling at him"

That was bad, they both winced. If the van was her baby, then the board was a part of her, there was no doubt. But it wouldn't have caused her to run away, her reaction would have had the opposite effect; she would have hunted them down. It was the irony that the situation was vice versa, they were hunting her.

"It was such a low hit …what the fuck was I thinking…she had trusted me!" The earth ninja mumbled to himself; both the reds putting a hand on either shoulder in silent encouragement.

"Dustin?" Cam saw the brunette beating himself up, what had happened?

"I stole a few recordings of our battles from your computer, when they lured her into the forest; I played it and she heard…" Dustin shook his head violently, like it would all go away.

Thing was that it wasn't, they were here.

It was real.

The yellow took a breath "…she heard us screaming for help"

They froze.

Navy and green are two completely separate colors.

Yet a moment later, the two colors combined their ugliest reactions to form one thing…

Black.

Navy and green are different, Cam and Blake are not.

The proved that as their voices roared to form the same words.

"YOU FUCKING DID WHAT?"

Green and Navy.

Blake and Cam.

At the moment, they were the same.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

So will there be murder?

And why did the guys do what they did?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	12. From bad to worse

This is chapter 12, are you ready?

They aren't mine! Although I do write a kickass story for them, don't ya agree?

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: **Like I said last chapter…**

**~Feedback about the chapter (Reviews) equals The motivation to do the next chapter which equals Me updating more frequently~ **

**More chapters for feedback! **

**Get it? **

**Got it? **

**Good. **

Now for the thousands reading and the millions around the world, WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! LET'S GET READY TO READ IT! (Wrestling thing, sorry to the people that are going…WTF?)

Here's the Hunt, Enjoy.

* * *

Things had gone from bad to worse.

Being between two rangers is bad, being between two pissed off ninjas is worse.

Being pulled over the seat is bad, being pulled over the seat by two panicked partners in crime is worse.

Being chased is bad, being chased by a once evil ranger who wanted to beat you to a bloody pulp was worse.

Unfortunately for him, the bad had not happened, the worse had.

He, the yellow ninja storm ranger, had been sitting between the two that were unaware of the deed. That had made him the prime target of their rage when they learned of the idiotic plan. He thought he had been dead meat, but REDS TO THE RESCUE! Shane and Hunter, seeing his distress status, had grabbed his shirt. They forcefully and quickly began to pull him over the seat into the back; the way they did it caused him to hit his head on the roof. That had left him slightly stunned, which gave the angry rangers the opportunity to start a round of the 'let's tear Dustin apart' game. With the navy and green rangers pulling on his legs and the reds with an iron grip on his upper torso, he felt like a teddy bear that was being fought over by little kids. The nightmare fantasy would have been completed with both sides yelling "MINE!" but thank goodness that didn't happen. Had he had stuffing, it would have been all over the van after a few seconds of the tug-a-war. One would assume that the elder rangers would prevail in saving him, but you could never account for the strength given in a state of rage. Finally he managed to kick Blake, giving the 'good guys' the chance to win. A few moments later, he was in the back seat between his rescuers.

Then there was a moment of silence.

All that was heard was the heavy breathing of them and the growls from the two.

The pause lasted only for a second, before Cam dove head first at him.

One would not consider Cameron a very aggressive person, using logic to solve problems and keep them out of trouble. Thing was that the situation was one that was entirely different from those they had faced in the past. If there was one thing you didn't mess with concerning Cam's reality, besides his computer or father, was Tori. She was the one that he had first attached to and even if he didn't admit it; she was his best friend. While he did register an attachment to the other rangers; she was the one that meant the most to him. And while it was shown that Blake was to be the boyfriend, it didn't really matter to him; they could still talk and she would be there. But due to Dustin's mistake, she wasn't there. And with that information, all rational thoughts went out the window.

The only thing going through his mind, and Blake's, was:

Kill Dustin.

Not that the other rangers wouldn't pay, the two had already silently agreed that Hunter and Shane would pay later, but from what they had heard; it was Dustin's part that had caused her to leave. It was his fault that they were in another town with no idea what was going on, it was** his** fault. And the dirt boy would bleed for it, they would make sure.

Seeing the foaming at the mouth green ranger coming at him, the earth ninja had let out a yelp. Hunter, seeing the scene unfold, had yanked the door open and streaked out. The wind ninjas had followed being chased by the very angry pair.

And just his luck, Dustin was the target. The two had zeroed in on him, completely ignoring their other teammates. Not going to sit back and watch the chaos, the two reds had used themselves as human shields for him. They were bigger and stronger, they could hold off the rabid ninjas so that Dustin wouldn't be completely torn to pieces.

"Calm down!" The crimson ranger yelled at his fellow thunder ninja, who was glaring at him

"I can't fucking believe you guys, after everything we have done; you thought that it would be fucking funny!" Blake roared back, ignoring his brother's comment

"Did you ever think of the implications, the aftermath, did you ever fucking think about her feelings?" The samurai bellowed at the person blocking his path

After all the fights, the danger, they thought that luring Tori into the forest to play a tape of them screaming for help would be funny. None of them would have taken it lightly; they would have thought that their teammates needed help; that they were in danger. That's probably what she thought, which completely explained why she left. She didn't feel respected or loved and even if it was false, what she thought, it was understandable.

"We made a mistake…" Shane ran off

"…just calm down and we'll talk about it!" Hunter finished

But they knew their attempts were in vain, after all; they would be doing the same thing if they were in the pairs' shoes.

"CALM DOWN?" The two screeched

"How can we calm down when you bastards are the reason that she is gone?" The younger Bradley hissed

"You were her teammates, you betrayed her trust! We trusted you, SHE TRUSTED YOU!" Cam bellowed

While the reds tried to come up with a response for this statement, Dustin ran. Because he was in public, streaking back to ninja ops was not an option. But he was in great shape, so he was a decent ways away from the shouting. Being thankful to his teammates for holding his other teammates off, he hoped that they wouldn't be killed; possibly just maimed? With the distraction, he had been given a few seconds to run for his life and he had ducked inside a shop. He hoped to god that his hiding place would save him, but he knew the chances were slim to none.

"Welcome to Rockporium, how the fucking hell can I help you?"

The brown haired ninja turned to see a dark haired male glaring at him, like all the problems of the world was his fault. The dude was dressed in red, like Shane. It wasn't strange for his best friend, after all he was the red ranger; but seeing another was slightly weird. People wore the color all the time, but it seemed like this guy carried the color as more; just like the air ninja did. Pride, honor, and power seemed to radiate throughout the person, although none of it was showing at the moment.

"Well, what the fuck do you want?" The guy snarled

Dustin was getting annoyed by his attitude. So the guy was having a bad day, so was he, there was no reason to fucking treat him like scum. He would probably get punched for this but the guy needed to be taught a lesson and he was going to be killed anyway so what the hell…

"Get the fucking stick out of your ass dude, I didn't do anything to you" The ninja growled in response

"What did you say?" The dude seemed like he was in shock at someone standing up to him

"I said what the fuck is you problem? Because right now you are acting like your fucking life sucks, when obviously it doesn't!" It was making his blood boiled that the moron had it so easy and yet he was the one that was complaining.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, telling me off when you have no idea what the fuck I have gone through?" The dark skinned man hissed, coming closer to where they were only inches apart.

"I guess we are going through the same, because my day sucks too" Dustin smirked, knowing that the guy had no idea. He had no fucking idea what was going on in his life, he would never know…

"Nick, chill mate!" Then there was another guy. Dark hair, weird accent, and bossy attitude. And he was dressed in green (a slightly darker green than he was used to seeing) with the same respect for the color; like the other guy…

Just. Like. Cam.

Dustin was getting slightly weirded out now, but he had to focus on the idiot in front of him. He was a ninja, this guy was going to get his ass kicked, but the first punch would come from this 'Nick' guy.

"The asshole was talking trash" The guy, now known to him as Nick, gestured in his direction

"If I was talking trash, then you were spewing sewage" Both guys turned to look at him, the dude in green with shock and the hothead in anger.

"Hey Xander…" Then there was a third dude. He wore yellow, the same shade that Dustin preferred, with orange hair; then he wore…a cape?

Dustin couldn't help himself "Nice cape dude"

Being a comic book person, he appreciated the cape. He knew the honor behind the fabric, even if others ridiculed it. He would be wearing the unusual accessory, but it didn't really work with riding a motorbike.

The guy broke out in a smile "Thanks, nice shirt" It seemed like the one comment had made the dude's day, which while it was slightly strange, Dustin was happy that he had brought happiness in his shitty state.

He looked down, it was a basic yellow shirt just like his, but it was a nice color. Same color as his spandex, it was the awesomest color ever; especially since the yellow ranger was the coolest (despite what the others said). Dustin liked this guy; they could probably get along really easy, if only there was a big red colored problem. If only he could get rid of…

"He's had a bad day, sorry about…" He cut Xander, interesting name in his opinion, off with a collected tone of voice

"It's cool; just tell him to stop being such an asshole or no one will like him…" Dustin began to stroll through the door, only to turn around to finish the sentence "… and every girl will hate him"

Their eyes went wide, the door closed.

There was no sign of his teammates, though their voices were heard.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THREE THINKING?"

"YOU ARE FUCKING IDIOTS!"

He was safe, for the moment.

Perhaps the day was getting better….

"RUN!"

Dustin turned to see the green and yellow dudes holding back a snarling Nick. He tried to run, but his body wouldn't respond. Instead he readied himself for the attack that was sure to come. A defensive position, eyes on the target. Then he was taken to the ground, a volley of punches trying to be delivered. A few hit their target, as they rolled in the dirt.

The guy was strong; he twisted to get the asshole off of him. Then it occurred to him that even if he was to defeat Nick, the other two (who were obviously his buds) would attack him. While three on one was doable, he did not want to be in that situation.

Him using his ninja powers in public was not the best idea either.

"HELP!" He yelled, trying to get the upper hand

He needed backup, where were his wingmen? Being on a team always meant that you had people to assist you when needed, and he needed it, but where were they? Oh, that's right; fighting each other.

He felt the other two, Xander and the yellow guy, trying to pull the growling hothead off of him; but it seemed that Nick was resisting and attacking him at the same time. So the two were on his side, but he still couldn't trust them.

"SHANE!"

It was the first name that came to mind and if the air ninja came; so would the others. And if he knew the skateboarder well enough, which he did, the red ranger would shoot off like a bottle rocket in his direction. Then the one attacking his would get his ass handed to him via the leader of his team. That was all true if and only if his SOS was heard. And due to the fact that Shane was probably busy with two angry rangers, it might be awhile on the rescue.

So he tried to avoid the punches, he tried to get to his feet (which failed, he was tripped by the hothead), and he waited.

Hoping that his motherfucking teammates would get their asses over here and help him.

But of course, they might be too busy yelling at each other.

At the moment, Dustin hated his life.

* * *

_He smiled, so did she. _

_A salty air blew around them, the call of seagulls echoing above. _

_He had found a perfect place, so that their lunch date was undisturbed by the public. It was a simple lunch, sandwiches and drinks. Nothing more, except for the checkered blanket below them. _

_It wasn't serious, just something on the side that seemed like it would be fun. _

_She hadn't told the guys, they would freak out. Blake would have gone nuts, she had a hunch that he would be very jealous. Shane would have had 'talk' with the guy, scaring the living daylights out of him. Cam would have done a background check on him, telling her every reason not to go one the date. Hunter and Dustin would have tailed the guy, making sure that he wasn't cheating on her (even though it was their first date). Then, the five of them would have 'observed' the date; making sure nothing went wrong. Well nothing except if they caused it. _

_Avoiding the chaos, she hadn't told them and now she was here. _

"What was his name?" Conner cut in

After Maddie had shared her tale, she had felt that it was best to tell hers. Although it was going to rub salt in the wounds, Tori knew it would be best to tell the ones that were protecting her. They were doing so with the no idea of what the past had dealt, they deserved to know. And if the guys showed up, which was a decent possibility, then needed to know what to expect.

Before she could respond, Kira smacked him "Don't interrupt her!"

The red dino was getting very involved in the stories, wanting to know details that really didn't pertain to the story. Maybe it was a red thing, because Shane would have wanted to know…Shane, an internal sob echoed, she missed him. She missed them all.

"His name was Matt"

_They had met on the beach, he was a lifeguard and she had been surfing. They had talked and after a few times of meeting he had asked her to have lunch with her during his lunch break. _

_She had agreed, even though she knew it wasn't going to be serious. He had brought the sandwiches, she had brought the drinks. _

_Everything was going great. They were talking about the ocean mostly; after all it was a common theme between them. Then a strong gust of air blew their open drinks over, the liquid quickly soaking into the sand. _

"That sucks" Ethan muttered

"Shhhh!" Maddie poked him; she was in a slightly better mood than earlier

"Sorry, continue" The blue male smirked at the fact that she was actually smiling

"_Shit" He mumbled, unable to get the cups up before it all spilled out _

"_Oh well" She smiled, which he reflected _

"_At least we have the sandwiches" _

_With the sentence, an even stronger wave of salt filled oxygen rushed past. Partials of sand around them were carried to cover the meal they had a moment ago been eating. They just sat there, seeing how their luck had turn from bad to worse. _

_At least it wasn't a complete disaster; they could still just sit there and talk…_

"_Nice talking to you, but I have to go" He got up and left, leaving her with the remains of their disastrous date _

_She decided then that god hated her. _

_Then she heard a chuckle, then a flash of red. _

_A growl escaped her, he didn't…_

"_You bastard" She said, knowing he would hear _

"Shane" Kira rolled her eyes

"Your red?" Vida asked

She nodded.

"I say we bury him up to his neck in sand" The pink ranger said

"He had shovels" Trent thumbed at the black ranger, who glared at the suggestion that he would he in anyway with the plot to bury a ranger, especially a red.

The females rubbed their hands together; they had already decided the fates of the mystics. Xander would be verbally beaten, Nick would be physically beaten, and Chip…would be slapped once by Vida. The guys were in on it too, the Dino rangers were happy to help in any way they could. After all, they would help a fellow ranger, especially if Kira glared at them. Besides, it would be fun.

The mystics were decided, now for the ninjas.

One down…four to go.

"_Oh, come on, he was never going to work out" Then she wasn't alone, there was a teammate sprawled lazily on the blanket. In a regular outfit for a 'chill' say as they were called, Shane was calmly ignoring the fact that she might just kill him._

"_You don't know that" She shot back _

"_He was an asshole, lunch on the beach?" He snorted in question, kicking one of the empty cups onto the sand_

"_I liked my lunch for you information! Well in till you showed up" Moving a blond hair from her eyes, she was prepared to punch him; like he deserved. _

"_I feel loved" He muttered under his breath in sarcasm _

"_What do you want?" She began to gather the crap around her _

"_What?" He raised an eyebrow_

"_You had to of had a good reason to interrupt, what do you want?" The first part was a lie; he could have interrupted just for the heck of it. _

"_Dustin wants to meet you in the forest in like ten minutes, you know the place by ninja ops" Shane replied smoothly _

"_Why?" Not that she didn't mind talking to him, but if it was something stupid; she was going to kick the dirt boy's ass. _

"_He has you surfboard" Hunter appeared to smile evilly at her, sitting Indian style on the very edge of the fabric that kept the sand out. _

_Her eyes narrowed "But it's in my van" _

"_It was…" The crimson began, holding the keys out so that they glimmered in the light. _

"…_now it's not" Shane ended, snatching them from the Bradley to throw them at her _

_Catching them easily, she knew that they were hers. _

_They both grinned, she snarled. _

_If they touched her board, they were going to wish that they had messed with a bear rather than her! _

"_Ten minutes in the forest, it's there" _

_Then they were gone, she stood to walk to her van. Opening the doors, there was only empty space. The noon sun came through the windows; it only showed a bare interior. _

_It was gone, one of her most prized possessions._

"_They are so dead" She whispered to herself_

"They took your board?" Conner gasped

"Motherfucking bastards" Vida swore

They all had something that related to the board. For Conner it was a soccer ball and for Maddie it was her camera. They all understood how much the theft unsettled her.

"Change in plan, we take their stuff and burn it" Kira announced, six heads bobbed in agreement

"What are we taking?" The once evil white ranger said, they turned to Tori

"Skateboard for Shane and a motocross bike for Hunter" She replied, it was their favorite things. Shane would go crazy, well so would Hunter, it was the perfect revenge.

"The bike would have to be emptied of fuel first" Dr. O added, hoping that they would be safe. There was no way he could stop the chaos, but maybe he could prevent the younger rangers from blowing themselves sky high. And while he wouldn't admit it, he had pulled pranks like this before; he couldn't wait to see the looks on the two's faces.

"What color is Hunter again?" Maddie asked, unfamiliar with the team. While she and her sister had only just learned of the five, they were doing pretty well with connecting the names to colors and personalities. Although they still had a little trouble, which was to be expected.

"Crimson" Ethan replied, knowing perfectly well who the dirty blond was. After all, he had fought side by side.

"What kind of a color is that?" Vida said in ridicule, she had never heard of a crimson ranger. While she hadn't heard of many ranger teams, she wouldn't expect there to be a shaded color as a ranger.

"His brother's is navy" Tori added, somehow concealing the sadness connected with the color

"Navy?" The blue mystic tilted her head

"Yup, navy" The other blue female breathed a breath of sorrow.

But it was not the time to cry; besides the worst was just coming.

"You said that there was three parts to the plan, what was the third?" Conner asked in curiosity

"She was getting to it!" The yellow dino answered, but instead of a slap it was more of a love tap. And the red ranger didn't seem to move away, hell he looked like he enjoyed the slight touch. While now wasn't the time, Tori and the other girls individually decided to 'talk' to Kira later and by 'talk' they meant grill her in till she fessed up. Something was going on between the two and they were going to find out.

The lone ninja took a breath.

It was time to tell, perhaps then she would give closure to the issue.

But it would never leave, they would always be there.

The situation had already gone bad, it couldn't get any worse.

She began to tell the final part of the tale that tore her heart and their team apart.

After all, she had nothing else to lose.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

What happened in the forest?

What will the reactions of the ninjas and mystics be to each other?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!

Thanks for R2ing!


	13. Pain

The 13th hour is upon us! Nah, just the 13th chapter.

They aren't mine! Damn.

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: This first part is a memory, like you will soon find out, and what she is hearing is partially fake. Some of it is from the show and others parts are things which I thought would be said; tell me if I did a bad job. Or you could tell me that I did an AWESOME JOB! Your choice (Maybe the latter?)

ALSO: On MaxKnight's suggestion via review, I have decided to do my memories a bit differently. So this first part is a memory and it is Tori's. You will probably realize that after reading the first few lines, but like in the last chapter I am NOT showing the other's reactions in the same block. As you will see later, the other's thoughts will be seen separately. Hopefully it will be less confusing and help the story flow more…tell me if it doesn't! Also tell me if I should go back to my old way…

ANNN: **Like I said two chapters ago…**

**~Feedback about the chapter (Reviews) equals The motivation to do the next chapter which equals Me updating more frequently~ **

**More chapters for feedback! **

**Get it? **

**Got it? **

**Good. **

**TIME FOR: **

NINJA FORCE!

DINO STORM!  
MYSTIC THUNDER!

Shit, that's not right…oops. ^_^

ENJOYYYY!

* * *

_She was going to kill them. _

_The threat had been delivered quite a few times, but this time; they were dead. Doing something that personal, no matter their connection to her; taking her board was inexcusable. They were her teammates, her friends; but that did not mean that there were no boundaries. There were lines that should never be crossed and while the guys had pushed the envelope many times; this was one of the few times that she had gone over the edge. The image of their gravestones was already seen in her mind. _

_**Shane Clarke**_

_**He was a best friend, a big brother, and an air headed moron**_

_**Died 2010 **_

_**Last Words: "Tori, what are you…PUT THE KNIFE DOWN!"**_

_**Hunter Bradley**_

_**He was a friend, a teammate, and brooding idiot**_

_**Died 2010**_

_**Last Words: "Why do you have a kni…SHIT!"**_

_Like she would actually do that…but a specific skateboard and bike would be in the ground, she would make sure of that. They wake up one morning to find their stuff missing…it was perfect. The shredded parts spread across the ground in front of them, the main parts nine feet under; it would be a great day. Then she would give them both a good punch to the jaw, perhaps Dustin would receive the same. She wasn't really sure at the moment what the yellow's role in the reds' plan was; but if the earth ninja really did have her board or if they had damaged it in any way, shape, or form…there was going to be a beating for all of them. In the back of her mind, she wondered if Cam or Blake were in on it. While the two were the calmest of the five, she wouldn't put it past them. They would probably be the last ones that she would suspect and the guys knew that. After all, who would blame the logical Cam and the calm Blake? She wouldn't. And that might just work into what ever the hell they were trying to pull. She decided that they were all guilty in till proven innocent and a punishment would be dished out whenever and wherever she decided. Which most likely meant that there was going to be ass kicking the next time she saw them. _

_Streaking through the forest, she knew what she had to do. _

_Get her board back, inspect it for any damage, and then lock it up. _

_After those three steps, it was open season on ninjas. _

_Stopping beside a tree, one in many, she decided to see if her pal was nearby. _

"_Dustin" She called, not knowing if she was in the right area. _

_The skateboarder had only told her the forest if front of ninja ops, which wasn't really specific due to the fact that there was an enormous amount of trees in front of, beside, and all around their HQ. She was in the time frame of ten minutes, with nothing to go on. So, with minimal directions and so much on the line; she was supposed to find Dustin. How to do that…_

"_DUSTIN!" The yelled word filled the once silent area around her _

_Waiting a moment for an answer, she then discovered that there was none. _

_Perhaps they had just led her out here for nothing, just to be assholes. It was a decent possibility, but if her board wasn't here; then where was it. That was the question, one that she couldn't answer, even if she wanted to. _

"_YOU BASTARD, WHERE ARE YOU?" She bellowed, wondering if he would actually respond this time _

_That would be a no. _

_Where was Dustin, where was her board? If only her teammates were here to tell her, although it was probably best that they weren't here; she might do something that she might regret if they were. _

"_Tori!" _

_She looked around, her name sounding for a moment before there was only silence once more. It was Dustin; she would recognize the voice anywhere. But where was he, she could only think of the trees. That he might be hiding up there; but why? Why was he hiding from her…_

"_TORI!" _

_The voice was filled with concern and fear, like she was going to be attacked any moment; but why was Shane yelling for her? What was going on, why was this happening? What the fuck were they trying to pull? _

"_Where the fucking hell did they come from?"_

_Not that the words was uncommon for Hunter, but why did it sound like he was panting…like he was breathing hard? It was like the crimson was fighting someone, but that was impossible; Lothor was gone. They had made sure of that. _

"_This can't be happening, we destroyed him!" _

_That did it; she knew that it wasn't a joke. Cam would never mess around with her like this, even if they tried to get him to. Lothor was back and they were being attacked. Without any hesitation, she ran towards the call for help. Something was going on, her team needed her. Whatever was going on, they needed her. And she was going to be there for them…_

"_NINJA STORM, RANGER FORM! HA!" Her voice ran through the trees as she was, the blue suit covering her. She didn't know what she was going into, it was best to be ready for anything. After all, if Lothor was back; anything could be happening. _

_Arriving to where she could have sworn she had heard them call from, there was nothing. No kelzacks, no monsters, and most importantly; no rangers in distress. What was going on? _

"_There's too many!" _

_Her eyes widened, it was Blake. The voice was coming from right where she was, but there was nothing there. Nothing at all. Sounds of lasers being fired, the specific sound of their personal lasers being fired, surrounded. She would recognize the sound of their weapons any where, but there was nothing. _

_Was she going crazy? _

_No, she was sure she heard it. Their voices, the ones that she cared so much about. There was no mistaking…But there was nothing there, even if she wanted to help, to save them; where were they? There was nothing to suggest that a battle had occurred. _

_She was alone…_

"_Dude…" _

_The painfully moaned word reached her ears, panic building up in her. Was he hurt, what was going on? Looking wildly around for Dustin, where the word came from, she was met with the same conclusion that she had come to a moment ago. _

"_I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!" _

_Another voice called, it was one of them; she wasn't sure who in the mixture of chaotic sounds coming to her. _

_It's all in my head, she thought, trying to block out the noises. _

_There was no one in the forest, only her. _

"_HUNTER!" _

_There was no battle going on, just silence. _

"_I CAN'T HOLD THEM OFF!" _

_They were not in danger, they were safe. _

_She demorphed to slide down a tree, clutching her head in a desperate attempt to keep the noise out. Not sound escaped her, only silent sobs slid down her cheeks. _

_It's all in my head; she knew it to be true. _

_All the fights, she remembered them all. The battles, the sorrow must be leaking through. She was just hearing the past; her theory did little to dim the screams around her. Even if it was all in the not so distant past, it was killing her. _

"_WHERE THE HELL IS TORI?" _

_Another wave of tears wove their way to drop from her chin onto her pants, staining the light material dark. Her hair flew into her eyes, making a blond curtain to hide her lack of emotional control. _

"_HELP!" _

_It's all in my head; she wished it to be real life. _

_Then she could actually do something, not sit here and relive the past; helplessly standing by. She wouldn't have to listen; she could prevent all of this from happening._

"_TORI!" _

_The word, her name, bounced off the walls of her mind; further showing herself that she was helpless. Unable to do nothing, a true form of torture. There was no one around her, yet it seemed so real. It seemed as though everything was playing out in front of her, but there was nothing. _

_Nothing to see, nothing to do…_

_Nothing __**she**__ could do. _

_It's all inside my mind, she chanted. _

_It's all inside my mind, she hoped to god that it would all stop. _

"_It's all inside my mind" She whispered _

_It became louder, her eardrums begging for it to all disappear._

_It overwhelmed her being…_

_Her mind was drowning. _

_Her body was shaking. _

_Her soul was splitting in two. _

"_Tori?" _

_Then there was nothing, there was nothing of the past. _

_Looking up, she saw Dustin, carrying her surfboard. He was in yellow as usual, his long hair draping over his eyes; the ones focused on her. His face was filled with concern and…guilt? Why would he…_

"_DUSTIN!" She didn't care, standing up to throw herself at him. The board dropped to the ground and at the moment all that mattered to her was that he was safe. Wrapping his arms around her, he squeezed her in a tight; comforting hug. _

"_Tori" He said her name as a question of how was she, what had happened? The one word meant so much after their many years knowing one another. The voices were gone, the sounds of battle, but what about…_

"_Where are the others?" The question seemed to take him off guard for a moment, his body tensed around her before he responded. _

"_Last I knew, Cam and Blake were at Ninja Ops and the reds were on their way there, why?" His tone seeped cluelessness like usual, but for some reason she had a feeling that he knew something. What was he not telling her? Now wasn't the time to ask, perhaps later. _

"_No reason" She buried her head into his shoulder, the tears slowly stopping _

_They just stood there, with her buried in her best friend's arms. _

_Dustin was safe. _

_The others were safe. _

_Nothing had happened. _

_The thing was that something had happened and she had to figure out what, she had to know. _

_But for now, she was blissfully ignorant; knowing that she could…_

…_and would find a way to explain what had happened. _

_

* * *

_

At the moment, Shane hated his life.

Out of all the moments to tell them, this had to be the worse. They should be looking for the other ranger team, their missing teammate, but instead they were…

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THREE THINKING?" Cam roared in his face, he sighed internally

"We didn't…" His sentence was cut off as he put a small amount of distance between himself and the samurai. Just enough to where he would have time to react to an attack from the other male, but he was close enough to where if Dustin suddenly appeared; he could block the harm that was sure to come to his friend.

"YOU ARE FUCKING IDIOTS!" At the same time as yelling this, Blake pushed his brother. While it was hard enough to send the crimson ranger to the ground, the elder Bradley brother kept his balance with only a little stumbling involved.

Finally having enough, the darker shade of red stood at his full height to tower over his brother, while he glared.

"THANK YOU CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!" Hunter snapped back, neither of them had been able to get a word in edgewise since they had begun to use themselves as shields.

"We know that, we would have told you ourselves if you two would shut up for ONE FUCKING SECOUND!" The red ranger added, his voice deathly cold while his eyes blazed

There was silence for a moment, only the sounds of their breathing and the regular noise of the town being heard.

"RUN!" The word sounded from some place a little ways away from them, a voice they didn't recognize yelling it. As far as the four were concerned, it wasn't their problem; so they paid no attention to it.

"Answer me this…" Cam glared as he spoke in a slightly calmer voice than he had had before "…why did you do it?"

Hunter looked over to meet his fellow red's gaze, wondering how they were going to answer. Neither had any idea, both were completely clueless. Perhaps if Dustin was there…no, that would only send the two back into a horrible rage. They had to do this on their own, but there weren't words that they knew of…

"HELP!"

Their gaze broke; four sets of eyes went to the place where the call had sounded.

"Was that Dustin?" The navy asked, a slight tint of rage coming with the name

"Nah, the dirt boy couldn't get himself into trouble already; it's only been five minutes since he took off" The dirty blond snorted

"Well it is Dustin" Their personal tech support muttered darkly

Shane chuckled in good humor "Anything is possible with…" His sentence was cut off by his own name.

"SHANE!"

The red ranger's protective mode switched into overdrive, as he sprinted towards his friend's voice. His mind ran through every scenario that he think of, what could be happening; none of them were good. Adrenalin was pumping through his veins, as it did to the others who were very close behind.

A moment ago they had been divided.

They were now unified by the scream of one of their own. No matter what was going on, they were teammates; they were supposed to be there for each other and they would be damned if they weren't.

They had no idea what Dustin had managed to get himself into, but if something happened to the goofy yellow when they could have been doing something; they would never forgive themselves. The earth ninja was considered one of the younger members of their team, the jokester; no one wanted to see him hurt. Tori usually kept a special eye on him for that reason; her maternal instincts also led her to do so; just like they led her to keep an eye on all of them.

So when they rounded the corner to see someone beating up Dustin, **their **Dustin; anger flowed freely through their veins. Plus the two guys trying to force the two apart, there were three targets in total.

Shane growled, it was mirrored by other rangers behind him.

Three enemies to beat to a pulp.

* * *

_I'm not crazy. _

_I am not going crazy. _

_I am not slowly losing my mind. _

_I am…_

_No matter what she chanted inside her mind, the memory of what had just happened still proved her wrong. Questioning whether she was sane or not was not a place that she ever wanted to be, but there was no denying that she had heard…_

_The sounds of pain, of lasers being fired. It had seemed so real, like if she had turned a corner, she would have seen her boys fighting to the death. _

_Her boys, she smiled sadly. _

_The ones that were her teammates, they were always there. _

_Gripping the steering wheel like it would make it all go away; she ignored the sun shining through the window. Sitting in front of Storm Chargers, she stared into the blue oblivion of a sky. _

_She tried to think of every reason why she was sane, although every thought was eclipsed by what had just happened. Perhaps she should tell the others; maybe they could put her fears to rest. No, they wouldn't understand; only reacting in concern of her metal wellbeing. They would never let her out of their sights if she did. _

_A tap from the window brought her from her trance; her eyes looked to see a familiar face. _

"_Tori" _

_It was Dustin. _

_Having driven him here for his shift, she had spent the entire trip looking from him to the road. Just to make sure that he was okay, that the nightmare inside her mind wasn't true. _

_Rolling down the window to come face to face to him, she smiled wearily. Trying to fake her normally calm mood was hard; especially her frazzled nerves were about drive her over the edge. _

"_Hey" The word was in her normal tone, but he wasn't buying it. _

"_I told you go home and get some rest" He had told her that, but she had promptly ignored it. Rather, her body had refused to move, so she had looked to the blue opposite of her element to reevaluate what had just happened. Soak it all in, although there was no way to comprehend it all. _

"_I know" That was a pitiful excuse, but Dustin knew something was wrong. Being friends with her as long as they had been, he knew when something was wrong. And she was pretty sure that she was sending off warning signals at the moment. _

_A big flashing arrow over her head, with a strobe light…_

_**ABOUT TO HAVE A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN! **_

_Then in even bigger letters…_

_**STAY AWAY! **_

_But of course Dustin wouldn't obey. He followed orders well enough, but this time he was sure to disobey. But to his credit, she would do the same thing for him. Ignore the signs that said to leave him alone, to find out if he was okay. He had already defied the warning in the forest, so he was probably thinking 'why not a second time?' _

"_You okay?" She met his dark eyes, which shone concern and…guilt. Why guilt, why did he have that look on the way back? Like he had done something terribly wrong… _

"_Yeah" That was the best she could come up with? Out of all the words she could say, why did she pick the dumbest? _

_He let out a sigh "Go home and rest" _

"_I was thinking of going to ninja ops" It wasn't a bad plan, perhaps she could get Cam off his computer so she could look up if she fell under the category of those with 'Post-traumatic stress disorder'. That was a logical explanation for her condition, but getting Cam off the computer would be difficult. Not that she couldn't do it, but she really wasn't in the mood to drag him away. Maybe the others would help…_

"_You've need to relax with us guys annoying you, go have personal day" His argument was pretty convincing, but she rather hang out with them. Make sure nothing happened that she couldn't help with, that she could be there. _

"_But…" She wasn't able to get out an argument_

_He looked her straight in the eyes "Home. Now." It wasn't forceful, just rock solid to where she could of swore that he had gotten that from the many times that Shane had handed out orders. _

"_Yes Shane" She muttered, he smirked _

"_We'll chill tonight, how about that?" He was meeting her half way with a compromise, which he was known for doing to keep the peace. _

"_Ninja Ops?" She replied, she was game. _

"_Monster movie marathon?" He asked, knowing that she would love the idea _

"_Bet you Hunter screams like a girl" She chuckled, he snickered picturing that happening _

"_DUSTIN!" That would be Kelly; he had to get back to work _

"_I'll get the popcorn" He said before slowly walking backwards towards his place of employment _

"_I'll get the skittles!" She yelled, before he had to step inside _

_Then she was alone. _

_Deciding to actually listen to his request this time, she stepped from the van. A run might be good she decided. When her jog took her from the public eye, she streaked through the forest. About to her house, she stopped by the sound of a familiar voice. _

"_What do we do?" _

_Peeking around a tree, she found the two hotheads of the team. Shane looked deep in thought, like he was trying to answer the Bradley's question. _

"_Dude, we got a plan yet?" The person she had just left streaked to stand with them, the guilt on his face growing ten fold. The look of sorrow also plagued the three, but for what reason she wondered. She also wondered how the yellow had gotten out of work, but now wasn't the time with all the other questions going through her head. _

"_How is she?" The red ranger turned to face his fellow wind ranger _

"_On the edge, I sent her home" The emotionless sentence was thrown out _

_They were talking about her, but why? _

"_God, we really fucked up" Hunter shifted, looking ready to slap himself _

_What were they talking about? She leaned out a bit more. _

"_What are we going to do? She'll murder us" Dustin sighed_

_While she had set out to kill them earlier, she wondered what they had done. If they expected her wrath, there had to be a reason. _

"_Get rid of it and tell her it never happened?" Shane muttered _

_Tell me what? She was getting irritated with knowing nothing. _

"_Works for me" The crimson ninja disappeared into the trees above, before an object came down to smash against the earth. Stomping it into the ground took moments, the metal components of the mysterious object flying everywhere. When he was satisfied with the deed, the others nodded in approval, the three streaked off. _

_She was alone once more. _

_Walking from her hiding place to the once whole object, she found that it looked somewhat familiar. After looking at it for a moment, she recognized it as Shane's stereo system. Why had he let Hunter smash it? Not that the red really used it, but it wasn't common for Shane to let people touch (or destroy) his stuff. It was battery powered, she pressed the 'on' button. _

_To her surprise, it actually lit up. _

_Half the wires were torn from the plastic device, the screen was almost gone; but it still worked. Pressing the play button, she waited. Perhaps this would tell her something…_

"_TORI!" _

_She looked around for Shane, but found that it had come from the device in front of her. Then the horrible noises from earlier rang out, she had the urge to clamp her hands over her ears, but her body didn't respond. Instead, she put her fist through the already broken device. _

_The sounds faded, tears running down her face. _

_But then a spark appeared in her mind, a light bulb if you will. _

_The screams had come from this system, which was Shane's. _

_Hunter had smashed the device, so that it wouldn't exist. _

_Dustin had been the first to find her, because he had been there watching her cry. _

_What had they tried to pull, why had they done this to her? _

"_Why?" She whispered _

_They had caused the pain; they had caused her to think she was going insane. _

_Why did they do it? _

_Did they think it was funny? _

_Why did they cause her the pain? _

_Why? _

_WHY? _

_That was the question…_

_Sadness and confusion turned to anger and rage. _

_Taking off towards the place she knew they were at the moment, she wanted answers. _

_Why? _

_One word. _

_One question._

_One person. _

_She wanted answers... _

_Now. _

_

* * *

_

With no predetermined signal or plan, the four went to work.

The Bradley brothers went for the two on the outside, literally throwing them on their asses a good five feet from where they had been. After that, the once evil duo stood by to make sure that their targets would not get back up to fight more. On top of it all, they shot death glares to make the two feel six feet under.

The leader of the team went for the male trying to pound his best friends face in. Grabbing the cuff of his enemy's shirt, the air ninja pulled sharply back to get him off of Dustin. The equally dark haired man turned to growl at him, throwing a punch in his direction. Blocking the attempt, he sent a kick to the chest of the person who was wearing just as much red as he was. Taking the full blow, Nick stumbled back a bit. Taking the split second opening, Shane pinned him to a nearby tree. The guy struggled under his grip, but the snarling red was not letting go.

That left Cam.

While the green ranger would have gone into battle, instead he went over to Dustin. The yellow ranger seemed a bit stunned for a moment, before seeing him coming. Trying to back up, he didn't get far before Cam was right next to him.

"Look…I…" The earth ninja tried to get a sentence out, but when that failed just braced himself for the punch he knew was going to come.

The samurai sighed at the behavior. While it didn't surprise him that Dustin would react that way, he had hoped that his nonthreatening approach had cleared that up for the moment. But evidently it hadn't.

"We will talk about it later, are you okay?" He asked, a small amount of concern seeping through. He knew that the others were sneaking looks over to their position, wondering the same thing that he was. Was their teammate okay? While he looked fine, a small amount of blood coming from his nose but noting more, you could never know.

Dustin looked up to make sure that Cam wasn't trying to trick him, before replying "I'm fine"

With this, the genius proceeded to pull the yellow to his feet to where the earth ninja stumbled for a moment. Finding his footing, he wiped the blood away to look at the others.

The Bradley duo abandoned their posts to flank the two, which left the two reds.

"Shane, put him down" All eyes went to Dustin

"But dude…" The air ninja's sentence was cut off

"There had to be a reason and I want to hear it, put him down" The two friends gazed at the other for a moment, before Shane relinquished his hold. Nick dropped to his two feet, his teammates falling in behind him.

Coming back to stand next to Dustin, the red wind ranger glared fiercely at the fire mystic, who mirrored the gaze.

It was a standoff between the two sides, silence enveloped them. All that was known was the hostility in the air, the glares being seen.

Dustin, who was feeling slightly lightheaded, decided to lean against a tree for a moment. This was ignored by the others, who were focused on the enemies in front of them. The yellow let his body weight fall against what he thought to be a solid trunk.

It wasn't.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

The ninja rangers looked to where the scream had come from, just in time to see the last of their teammate disappear.

They knew what had happened.

Dustin had fallen through a tree.

They went through it once more to make sure they had heard themselves correctly.

Dustin had fallen **through** a tree.

With the thought going through their heads, it became silent once more.

And all they did was stare.

* * *

"THEY DID WHAT?" Three female screeched

"I can't believe it" The black Dino ranger muttered, never had he heard of such a horrid act. Every ranger would have reacted in the same way, listening to their comrades calling for their help.

"If I ever see them again…" Conner growled, his blood boiling.

"They are dead" Trent hissed, Ethan cracked his knuckles in agreement

They had hurt a fellow ranger, that made them enemies.

Kira tore herself away from the group to rummage through the drawers. They all watched, in till she came up with a paper and pen. Scribbling on it in the most nonviolent way that had ever seen, she dictated what she was writing.

"The mystic rangers: Nick will be beaten, Xander will be yelled at, and Chip will be slapped"

"What are you doing?" Tori asked, wiping the tears from her eyes with a tissue before tossing it into the pile beside her.

The yellow Dino took her eyes off the paper "This is a to do list, I am not going to rest in till there is a check mark by each one"

"It should be for the team" Ethan suggested

"It should be for all of us" Vida countered

"I'm in" Conner said

"Me too" Maddie added

"So am I" Trent nodded

"I'll supervise" Dr. Oliver knew that it was going to go to war, he would make sure that nothing to bad happened…short of them killing someone.

"I am going to be there when this goes down" Kira said, writing all names on the paper except…

All eyes went to Tori, wondering what she was going to say.

"Let's do this" The blue ranger grinned evilly

They all wanted the same thing; the yellow female went back to writing.

After a moment, she held it up to read the last line.

"The ninja rangers: They all shall…."

In a snarled tone, the word echoed the house.

"…die."

* * *

Review? Please!

So where is Dustin?

Will Nick and Shane kill each other?

And what evil is in store for the two broken teams?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!

Thanks for R2ing!


	14. Three wrongs do not make a right

Four + Ten = 14

So what chapter are we on?

~Guess.~

They aren't mine! *siiiiiiiigh*

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: **There's a poll on my profile, I would be ever so grateful if you guys (and girls) voted in it! Free cyber hug from the love birds! **

Chip: "Who wants a hug?"

Blake: "Um, in the words of Tori, who wants a huggie?"

Nick: "Huggie…*snickers*…anybody want a hug? cus I'm not giving out a ton of them"

ANNN: If you hadn't noticed, Tori's memory led us up to where the first chapter of this story begins. Just so you know. Now we are going to go see the three's idiotic morons points of views on the subject.

ANNNN: I know that plenty of people want to decapitate Shane, Dustin, and Hunter; but unfortunately that can not happen. Lots of sorrys to the people who wanted to kill them but that's Kira's job. I can't wait to see what happens when she goes yellow ranger on their sorry asses!

**Hey buddy! You, ya you! **

**You wanna buy a chapter? I got chapters here real cheap! **

**All ya gotta do is gimmie a review and you'll see the chapter soon enough. **

**Get it?**

**Got it?**

**Good. **

TIME FOR: 

STORMY MYSTIC DINOS!

THUNDER STORM MYSTICS!

MYSTIC THUNDER NINJAS! [This is my favorite!]

ENJOYYYY!

* * *

_Patience is a virtue…_

_One that he had yet to gain. _

_Not that he didn't like sitting in a tree, trying to blend his crimson self into the leaves although it was impossible. At the moment, he was sitting a good twenty feet in the air, surrounded by the soft noise that came with being the forest. Rustling leaves, calls of birds, and a gentle melody of the nearby waterfall that protected ninja ops. _

_He hated waiting. _

_The first part of the plan had gone perfectly, as had the second phase, now all they needed was a flash of blond to appear in their line of vision. Tori had not been shy on April fools; they still hadn't come up with a way to get back at her. So they had devised the devious deed, during one of the few nights when it was just the three of them, which was now in stage three. Now Tori just needed to show, which of course she would, because if there was one thing he knew for a fact, it was that Tori always had her revenge. Even if it was right away or weeks afterwards, she always bitch slapped the person who deserved it. Which at the moment was himself and Shane, due to the fact that they had stolen her board and ruined her date. But it was a good thing that they had ruined the so called 'date' for one simple reason. _

_Tori belonged to Blake. _

_The two could deny it and/or ignore it all they wanted but the rest of the rangers (including himself) saw through the illusion they put up to suggest otherwise. The blues belonged together; he was sure that it wasn't just coincidence that they were both blue rangers. They saw the jealousy in either's eyes when the other flirted with another girl or guy. They had both sides of the story, Dustin and Shane knew Tori's and he knew Blake's feelings. So while it hadn't happened yet, it was inevitable that the two were going to be a couple. The water ninja should be happy that it was them who saved…err interrupted her suckish date; because if it was Blake, the guy might be bleeding. Well, his brother wasn't that violent…it would have broken his heart and that would have been a soap opera waiting to happen. Tori wondering what she did, the navy ranger refusing to tell her and avoiding her, himself and the others stuck in the middle…he really was glad that hadn't happened. But on the other hand, he could have pulled up a seat with popcorn and watch it all unfold…drama was fun to watch after all. _

_Stealing a look to his left, he saw a small spot of yellow. Other than the small disruption of color, the earth ranger had done a very good job of hiding himself. And he had no idea where to even start to look where Shane's location was. Perhaps the red had disappeared, abandoned the plan to go watch the hysterics that were soon to follow from the sidelines. While he doubted that the leader of the team had done such a thing, he would put it past him._

_Due to his boredom, he wondered how the others were faring in their specific lookout positions. He decided to find out; after all he had nothing else to do. Knocking his knuckles on the trunk that was supporting his weight, he waited for the response they had decided on ahead of time. _

_Tap. _

_Hearing this, he knocked again on wood, this time twice wondering if they had heard his silent request. One tap meant to establish where the others were, two taps meant that they were suppose to meet at his location. Three taps was to indicate to proceed with the third stage. It was a simple, and silent, way to communicate. _

_A moment later, Dustin appeared on his branch to ask his own question; wordlessly of course. 'What's up?' _

_He shrugged a reply of 'Nothing much' at the same time wondering where their partner in crime was. While it wasn't troubling that the air head hadn't shown up, it raised the question of whether the red had found something and had not heard his request because of it. Or the asshole could just be ignoring him, which a definite possibility. _

"_You called?" A voice whispered in his ear _

_Jumping out of his skin in surprise, he almost fell out of the tree; stopping himself by grabbing the limb that Dustin was perched on. Raising his head to look at the person who had suddenly appeared behind him, he found it to be the trio's missing member. Raising himself to where he had been, his eyes narrowed on Shane, who was grinning evilly. Glaring at the lighter shade of red, he tried to ignore the chuckles coming from the earth ninja. _

"_Fucking asshole" He hissed, wondering if he could possibly tackle the other ranger. Doing so was probably a bad idea, falling to his death was not something he really wanted to do today. They would at least, at minimum, break their legs and perhaps their arms; which would suck. Their cover would be blown, they would be at the mercy of Tori's wrath, and worst of all; he would be stuck in recovery with the bastard for the weeks of healing. So he would not tackle Shane, although punching him was something that made a very good substitution. That way, the skateboarder would fall to his death and he would be able to watch with sweet satisfaction. Afterwards he would feel horrible about it and get mauled by two very pissed offed wind ninjas. So that idea wasn't the best either, he wondered what he was going to do._

_While this deliberation was going on in his mind, Shane had decided to move his target of a person to the other side of the yellow ranger. This effectively put Dustin between the two of them, minimizing the chance of a brawl happening at twenty feet in the air. Not that clearing the brown haired male would be hard, hell he could dive over him and slam into Shane in a moment's time if he wanted to. _

_Key words being __**if he wanted, **__and at the moment; he didn't feel like it. _

_So glaring at the red ranger was what he settled on doing in retaliation for the scare attack, thought there was going to be revenge. Perhaps he would jump Shane and kick his ass later; just when he didn't expect it. _

"_Where is she?" Dustin muttered aloud, blissfully unaware that he was between Shane and the person that slightly wanted to kill him at the moment. It wasn't the best place to be, especially when said earth ninja was not aware of the possible plans that might be put into action to push the air head out of the tree. _

"_Dude, chill out; she'll be here" He replied in an attempt, which seemed to be working, to sooth the yellow's nerves; all while trying to glare a hole in Shane's brain. _

_Originally Dustin had been totally against the idea, he had to admit that what they were about to do was evil on so many levels that he doubt Lothor could have come up with something sick. It was then that he had suggested that if they noticed that it was becoming too much for Tori, that they would cut the recorder and that they would appear from their hiding places for her to beat the shit out of them. While the image of being beaten up by emotional Tori was not the best to think about, he and the others had agreed to it. That's why they were at three different spots, to ensure that they could keep an eye on her during the ordeal. Not that they planned for it to go that far, just to the point where they felt that their pink motorbikes and pink skateboard were avenged. Messing with their stuff was very bad, so the plan was to proceed as planned. _

"_For once, Hunter is actually right" His attempts to somehow turn his glare into a death beam of destruction increased tenfold at the comment. A small growl came from his throat, which only gave Shane more satisfaction at the fact that he was getting to him. _

"_Shut the fuck…" His retorted statement was cut off by something that they had been patiently, impatiently in his case, for. _

"_DUSTIN!" _

_The word of their teammate sent the wind ninjas scattering to their original places, putting them all on high alert. There was no do overs, no screw ups; it was go time. Rising from his sitting position, he pushed a blond hair from his eyes before crouching to get a better look. _

_While he had yet to see her, she was here; he knew that much. _

_Silent footsteps echoed. _

_Soft breathing flowed. _

_Not to mention…_

"_YOU BASTARD, WHERE ARE YOU?" _

…_her wonderfully fury filled voice. _

_He smirked, she was pissed. It was expected that she would be out for blood; after all it was her board. The same reaction was seem when they had discovered their own forms of recreational fun painted in pink, that had not been a good day. _

_Tap. Tap. Tap. _

_The firm sound of flesh against wood reached his ears; a response was heard from Dustin's direction. It was up to him, they had agreed that all three of them had to decide when to begin. His response was being waited on, but he wanted a clear shot of…_

_Her._

_There she was, her fists balled; ready to kick their asses. _

_Tap. Tap. Tap. _

_He waited after giving his part of the signal; it would only be a matter of time. Coming from the crouched position to stand, he prepared to follow her. His slightly blood deficient limbs ached a bit as the crimson liquid flowed back into them. _

"_Tori!" _

_Getting himself ready, he heard the first call of her name. He was the follower, he was to keep an eye on her at all times; to be ready to shut the situation down at any moment that he felt she had had too much. _

"_TORI!" _

_Her head looked around, not yet in panic, but he knew it was getting there. _

"_Where the fucking hell did they all come from?" _

_He silently chuckled; he remembered the day he had said that. They had been ambushed by a bunch of fucking kelzacks and on top of the monster; it had been a hundred fucking degrees that day. _

"_This can't be happening, we destroyed him!"_

_So they had been swarmed by Lothor's goons and sweating in the tight spandex. He had not been in a great mood that day; well not in till they had gotten to Ninja Ops. To put himself and the others out of their misery, Tori had used her water power to blast them with icy liquid from the HQ's pond. It had felt wonderful…_

"_NINJA STORM, RANGER FORM! HA!"_

_She was morphing, that meant she was taking it badly. He needed to make sure though, some sort of physical sign. _

_He looked down, she was gone. _

_While absorbed in his own thoughts, he had failed in his very important job and it had only been like a minute since phase three had begun. He wanted to slap himself, but unfortunately there was no time for that. Flinging himself to the next branch, he quickly scanned the area, to find nothing. _

"_Fuck" He cursed softly while jumping in the direction of where he hoped she had gone, although he had no fudging idea where she was in the thick forest. _

"_There's too many!"_

_Had he not known the situation, he would have catapulted himself towards his brother's call for help; inevitably towards where Shane was. But instead he forced himself to look for the other thunder's love, burying the big brother instinct to go and protect. If she was going to break down, he was sure it was after that. _

"_Dude…"_

_There was nothing, he had lost her. _

_Where the hell was she? The question rattled his brain, his eyes showed no answer though. _

"_I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!"_

_Another yell roared through the leaves, but he ignored it. He had to; his only focus was on her. If he didn't find her soon, than there would be no stopping the pain which they knew would come from too much exposure. _

"_HUNTER!"_

_Even though he had known it was coming, his body slightly flinched at the call…no the screaming of his name. It was chilling to hear again, the first time being when he had turned on his own brother. While it was the steam that had made him evil, he still remembered hearing the tortured word coming from Blake's mouth. No matter what had happened afterwards, the name always was engraved into his memory. He had failed his brother then, he had caused the person he was to protect pain. He had vowed never to do it again, even though with the chaos that could occur; no promises could be made. _

"_I CAN'T HOLD THEM OFF!"_

_There was no time to dwell in the past, he snapped his eyes to the ground just in time to see a blue suit vanish and a sobbing blonde slid to the ground. Tears rolled down her cheeks, he tried to jump to her side. _

_But his body wouldn't respond, perhaps it was the sight of her torn soul that froze him. Everything went numb, every aspect around him going out of focus; except for her. Blond hair draped to cover her sorrow, but he knew it was there. _

_He could feel it, the excruciating white flames eating at her. _

_He felt it; it was building in his chest. _

_Sorrow, pain, guilt. _

_He needed to stop this…now. _

"_Help" His voice seemed to escape him_

"_WHERE THE HELL IS TORI?"_

_The fire burned even more with the cry, her form shook. _

_Somehow, he let out a scream of his own._

"_HELP!" _

_The word was the first that entered his head. It represented, in the simplest and shortest way possible, that he needed assistance. He needed someone there to give him a push forward. Someone needed to get to her, while for some reason he could not. He knew that they had heard, that they knew something had gone wrong. _

_Terribly wrong. _

"_TORI!" _

_He knew the speaker system was off, that the name was yelled by Shane himself. The rustle of leaves filled his ears, his head turned without direction from him. There was Dustin, staring at him wide eyed. Again he moved without any electrical pulses come from his numbed brain, motioning down. The earth ninja followed his gaze, to do the exact opposite that he had. _

_Instead of freezing, the white fire had run through the brown haired male's veins as Dustin threw himself from the tree to stand only a few feet from her. _

_Shane appeared only moments later, to see the destruction for himself. _

_But he didn't notice. _

_Later he might note that her surfboard, the whole reason she had showed up, was tucked under the yellow's arm; but not at the moment. _

_Perhaps he would beat himself later for being a fucking idiot for losing her in the first place. _

_But for now, he only knew one thing. _

_Tori was hurt…_

_As he watched the tears drip from her face, his heart ached._

…_and it was all his fucking fault. _

_

* * *

_

"Dude…"

The moaned word escaped his lips as he raised his head from the dirt. He had felt lightheaded before, now he felt fine. So next time he felt dizzy, he had to fall through a tree. It was that simple…

What was he saying; that he had fallen through a tree?

Considering if he had gone crazy for a moment, then agreeing with **himself** that he was not, he threw out the ridicules theory that he had fallen through a solid truck of a pine tree…or whatever kind fucking tree it was.

Steadying himself on his own two feet, he tried to convince himself that he had just fallen to the side. He was really surprised that Shane or the others weren't laughing at him, either that or helping him up.

"Bastards" He swore under his breath, seriously could they be any ruder?

He had just gotten pummeled and they had let him fall to the side. To their benefit, they had gotten the asshole off of him and he was off the 'Blake and Cam kill list' temporarily. While he was grateful for both acts, they were not pissing him off. But really, they had let him fall to the ground with no attempt what so ever to stop his descent to dirt? Not that he didn't like the earth, it was his element, but it was the act of letting him falling that was completely and utterly pissing him off.

That was it; he wasn't going to talk to them. It might be childish, he decided, but he…Waldo Brooks, known as Dustin to the friends who were suppose to be helping him! …was going to give them the silent treatment.

It had worked before, when he was ten, and it was going to work again!

He would make sure of it. Just like his puppy dog eyes still worked, the silent treatment would work. It would!

It would easily drive them crazy; they would beg him to talk to them. That, paired with the glare he was about to give would render them completely in his debt. Rubbing his hands together evilly with the devious plans of revenge in mind, Dustin raised his head.

Expecting to meet eyes with Shane, or one of the others, he found himself looking at another tree. Finding that he was probably looking in the wrong direction, he turned slowly and darkly to hopefully find his target…

No dice, there was only fog and trees. The terrain was much different from where he had just been, it had a much darker energy surrounding it. It was more mysterious than he was used too; the sound of cracking twigs and hooting owls reached his ears.

It kind of freaked him out, even if he was a ninja.

Where the hell was he?

There was none of his team, no cape guy, no dark green guy, and no asshole. He would be very happy to see Nick; at least it would tell him that he was still on earth. At the moment, he felt like he was on another planet…well maybe just another country.

What the fuck was going on?

Before he could consider the question, there was a weird noise coming from deep in the forest. Looking in the direction of said weird noise, he saw something that he found to be even stranger, and scarier, than the spooky forest surrounding him. About ten or so _things_ were approaching him.

They looked, he mused, like a kelzacks.

They would if you put a kelzack in a blender with a pinch of gooey dark purple paint. And if said kelzack came out with his bones on the outside of his body, a thick metal plate strapped to his head, and with a large glowing staff in hand; then you would have the leader of said _things_ heading in his direction.

What to call them? He wondered while standing perfectly still not to attract their attention. He had learned that if you did so with kelzacks, then once in a while you would get lucky and they would not see you in till you got the drop on their alien asses.

They were even more screwed up than kelzacks….a light bulb appeared over his head.

A smile came to his face; he had a name for the _things_. They didn't have to be classified in the _things _category anymore!

FUKS…that's what he decided to call them.

**F**ucked

**U**p

**K**elzack**s **

[AN: Yes, I know that the 'S' should have its own word, but I thought it worked better this way. The 'S' makes the word plural, a single thing would be a FUK…do you understand my madness? I hope you do ]

Dustin couldn't wait to tell the others, but he couldn't; he was giving them the silent treatment. Damn, he hated when his own treatments came back to haunt him.

The newly named FUKS hadn't noticed him yet; perhaps he could just sneak away…

He cringed as a twig snapped under his foot and then there were twenty weird eyes on him. Forcing himself to remain calm, he considered his options.

Morphing would not be a bad plan, but he didn't know if he was fighting. They could be much stronger than the normal minions he had fought, they could…

One of the nonhuman entities proceeded to draw back and spit a glop of purple shit at him, which he promptly dodged. At first he was in panic mode, he didn't know they could do that! Then the comic book side of his brain kicked in, theorizing that the purple stuff could be acidic to the point that it would melt his skin off. He also considered that if he did morph to fight them, would his suit become ash when coming in contact with the stuff? Was their entire body covered in the stuff, would he be able to even land a hit? So in short, he had driven himself deeper into a state of panic.

With these questions in mind, the very powerful and proud yellow wind ranger did the most appropriate thing he could think of at the moment.

He took off running in the opposite direction of the things.

The FUKS, unaware of their new classification, did what they did best; they ran after him. Their leader, who was stronger and more demanding than them, launched an energy attack from his spear which barely missed their human target.

Grumbling at the miss, the monster minions raced after him.

In their dust, they left only one thing.

One non-acidic thing.

A glob of purple slime.

* * *

Taking a deep breath, she stepped from the house to gaze upon her female allies.

After the emotional and fury filled story telling session they had just had, the mystic sisters had mentioned that they had luggage in the car. Kira had jumped at the opportunity, walking with the two to where the three were now.

And she just stood there.

She wasn't sure what she wanted, on one had she wanted them to be decapitated and display heads on a spike, but on the other hand she wanted to know.

Why?

It was such a simple question; the answer should be such as simple. Even if it was suppose to be simple, it still escaped her. The reason, any reason, why they would do such a thing still was unseen in her eyes.

They would find her eventually, she knew them well, they wouldn't stop in till they found her. The other question in her mind was, what was she going to do? When they finally came here, what would her decision be? Would she lead an attack against them? Kira and the others would go to blood if needed, but is that what she really wanted?

What to do…

"Tori?" Her name caused her to turn to face the three dino ranger males.

"Yes?" Focusing on Conner, the one who had drawn her attention, she wondered what he wanted? Not that she didn't enjoy his company, but she had to figure out what action she would take when her teammates…former teammates arrived. She absent mindedly fiddled with the end of her pony tail, which had been put up to allow her better access to her eyes; to wipe away the tears.

"We just want you to know that whatever you need, we are here for you" A soft smile came to her face, his words seem to sooth her swirling chaos filled mind. She had support, not just from the females, and it felt good to know so. But the thing was that she had to deal with this on her own, it was her reality, her drama that they shouldn't have to get involved in.

"Thank you, but…" Her refusal was cut off, not by the leader of the pack, but by her own color

"But nothing, if you need us to run to the store for comfort food we will" Ethan said, her smile grew a bit at the quirky idea. Had it been Vida suggesting it, or one of the other girls, she would have thought nothing of it; but this was the guys. How did they know about comfort food?

"Where did you guys get the idea that I might need…" Again she was interrupted

"Kira has asked many times, especially during 'her time' of the month " The red dino ranger smirked, which was reflected by Tori. Damn, she thought, Kira had them trained well. Almost as well as she had her guys...The thought threw the grin from her face, which did not go unnoticed by the males.

Trent proceeded to swat Conner on the arm for saying something that upset her, although they had no idea how it had upset her, before saying "I have a suit"

His teammates and Tori turned to give him a strange look, why the heck would he say something so random? Out of all the things to say in the moment…

Seeing the confusion, the white ranger decided to elaborate "If you need your own secret service style security detail" A slightly evil grin popped onto his face, the awkward tension was broken. All was explained and the idea actually made sense to the three.

"I do too!" The computer hacker of the three added

"Who needs a suit? I have these…" Pulling from his pocket a slim pair of stylish dark sunglasses, the soccer player slid them on and crossed his arms across his chest in a semi menacing, semi macho, and semi ridiculous pose "…this is bodyguard detail, ranger style"

She forced back a snicker, too bad the other girls were busy; this was hilarious.

"Do you have another pair?" The male in white asked

"I…HEY!" Connor yelled as the glasses were grabbed and then put on by his blue buddy

"These are nice" The blue ranger said, tilting his head to the side for a moment with his arms in a slight impression of what the red had just been doing.

"Gimmie those!" Trent snatched them away, sliding them on for a moment.

Then he, to her shock, slid them down his nose just enough to expose his dark eyes. "What do you think Tori, who looks the best?" The sentence was said in a smooth, slightly seductive voice which reminded her of a good impression of James Bond as he winked.

An even bigger grin came to her face, as Ethan and Conner pounced to try and wrestle the glasses away from him before she could answer. She tried not to giggle, she tried not to…

But in the end in escaped, they their mock wrestling match froze to look at her. They had seen her mostly sad, crying, and angry; never had they heard her happy nor had they heard her giggle. It was strange to hear such a sound come from the person that had just been sobbing minutes ago.

In their confusion, she walked over and plucked the shades from Trent's grasp, before cleaning them on her blue shirt. The object of the fight now gone, the three rangers picked themselves off the ground to have their attention drawn to her.

"To answer your question Trent, I think they look best…" She paused to put them on herself, looking at them with a small smile on her face. Her head was cocked, her arms crossed in a 'do not mess with me' pose that had been the pay off of years of using it. "…on me"

Their faces broke into grins and they stayed that way as she handed the glasses over to their original owner, who pocketed them lest they be taken by his teammates.

"Like we said, comfort food..." Ethan was cut off

"Or bodyguards, we are there" Trent finished

"Just say the word and you'll have our full support" Connor added, with a nod that meant that the three were truthfully offering all they had to her.

While it was sweet, it didn't make sense to her. Yes, they were all rangers, but other than that they were mostly strangers. True, they had fought each other in the past and they had been to a race together…It must be Kira, she concluded. The female was going to tear into her guys, so they must feel obligated to help her. This thought echoed in her mind, she didn't want to be a charity case that the three had been forced to take on.

"Guys, if this is because of Kira …" Tori ran off, letting the sentence hang in the air between them.

The red ranger took a breath, she awaited his response.

What was she expecting, him to say you're right? We are doing this only for Kira… It didn't seem that he would say something like that outright, but…

"It's not about Kira" The blue said quickly and forcefully

"What makes you think…" The dark haired male in white was interrupted

"No, she's right" Her jaw was about to drop, her eyes went to Connor, as did the other twos'. Had she actually gotten the straight forward, rude answer that she had been expecting?

Seeing that no one was going to say a word, the red tyrannosaurus ranger continued "It is about Kira…"

He paused, looking into her eyes.

Soft, caring eyes locked with hers as he spoke the rest of the sentence.

"…but not in the way you think"

* * *

_What the fucking hell had he been thinking?_

_Pain radiated through him, as did the question, as he landed solidly on the ground. With a surfboard tucked under his arm, he walked slowly to where she was. Somehow, the rational part of his brain decided to keep with the truth that she knew of. The truth that he was meeting her here with her baby, that he had nothing to do with the pain that had just been inflicted. Although he wanted to throw the lies out the window, his rational side was totally ignoring his emotional side, which was breaking down at the moment. _

_When he finally came to stand in front of her, he froze. She was hunched over with her knees to her chest, a flow of steady tears dripping past her mess of hair to her already soaked pants. There was his best friend, crying her eyes out because of them. She was morning the sounds heard and it was all his fault. _

"_Tori?" The word came out calm, although he was shattered to see her in such a state_

_Red, sorrow filled eyes met his; a glimmer of hope filled them as she realized it was him. That he wasn't in pain like the screams had suggested…_

"_DUSTIN!" Being hit with the launched projectile known as Tori, he promptly dropped her board to hold her close. She could kill him later for the scratches, but all he cared about was the fact that he had to somehow make this right. Although he knew, that it was impossible to do so. Her arms wrapped around his waist as he squeezed her tightly against his chest. _

"_Tori" He repeated her name in a comforting way, to assure her that it was all over. That he was here, he was okay, and that nothing was going to happen to him or the others. _

"_Where are the others?" Flinching for a moment, he wondered what he should say. _

_Oh, the dumbass red duo is right above your head and the clueless navy and green rangers are at ninja ops with no idea how bad I just fucked up! While he wanted to say that, he knew that he couldn't and that was not what she wanted to hear. _

"_Last I knew, Cam and Blake were at Ninja Ops and the reds were on their way there, why?" He mentally slapped himself, why? He __**knew**__ why! She wanted to make sure they were all okay, after all she had just heard them go to bloody battle where they were being injured! Oh course she would want to know where the others were. _

_Although he didn't, he wished he could 'hint' to Tori that two safe rangers were in the trees as they spoke! _

"_No reason" That was bullshit and he knew it. But like many times before, she was covering up her fears for the others sake, so that they wouldn't worry. Which of course he was worrying and he knew that the others two were…they better be worrying! He thundered to himself, or he would kick their asses for brushing such a thing off! They wouldn't, but if they did…_

_His dry shoulder was nuzzled by her wet head as the crook cradled the crazy mess of her mind. The tears soon stopped, but not in till his shirt was soaked. Not that he noticed, hell she could do whatever she wanted. He, in his opinion, was in emotional debt to her. He had caused her pain, the entire situation was his fault. _

_They stood there, as she calmed herself down and as he worked himself up. _

_How could he let this happen? _

_Before an answer could even be considered, two red persons appeared in his line of sight. Peeking out from behind a tree was the asses he really wanted to kick at the moment. Making sure they could see him, he gently moved his hands from their position on her back to do something. _

_He glared before flashing them a double barrel version of the bird, also known as the simplest way to say 'FUCK YOU!'. He held the position for a good minute before lowering the symbolic weapons to their former places on his friend's back. _

_From where he was, he could both see them sigh before Shane met his direct gaze. Now this was no easy feet, due to the fact that he was sending death threats via glare at the highest level he knew of. The dark eyes sent a simple message that he easily decoded from the years of being friends with the air ninja. _

'_We need to talk' _

_His eyes narrowed with his response 'Yes we fucking do!' _

_Hunter, who did not enjoy being out of the loop, seemed to be trying to decode the messages. He watched as the crimson ranger whispered something to the other red, while watching this, he wondered what they were talking about. _

_He saw that he was about to find out, as the red air ranger turned back to him. _

'_When?' _

_He was tempted to growl, couldn't the two see that he was A BIT FUCKING BUSY? You know, he was comforting the one that they had had a part in destroying! But if he made any indication of something being out there, the situation would go even deeper into hell than it already was. _

_Then in all the silent chaos, his phone went off. _

_Tori, hearing the ringer, moved slightly away so he could retrieve it from his pocket. Opening it, he dully listened to the person on the other end before rudely hanging up without a word in response. Reholstering the device, he gave her a snug hug. _

"_Who was that?" He sighed, he really didn't want to answer; but he was done lying to her. _

"_It was Kelly, I'm late to my shift and she called to bitch at me" At the moment, he could give a rat's ass about what his boss thought. She could fire him, but it was more important that he was right where he was now, trying to erase the past. _

"_I'll drive you" He looked down to meet her eyes, she wanted to do something in the emotional state she was in? _

"_Its fine, you don't…" His reply was cut off _

"_You are going to work" With that, she began pulling him towards where he was sure the van was. Somehow, he freed one of his hands to scoop up her board. While she smiled faintly at the act, a small whimper was heard from the loss of contact. _

_A small rustle of leaves, which went unnoticed by her, gather his attention to the two ninja following. Holding three fingers and then a fist, he said he would be back in thirty minutes. Then they could talk and figure the shit of a mess out. _

_Hunter nodded in understanding, before disappearing along with Shane as they reached the van. Loading the board into the back, he offered to drive; which she declined. _

_Count on Tori to drive whatever the situation, he muttered inside his mind. _

_The drive was a weird one, every other second she was looking back to him from the road; despite the fact that he was right next to her with her free hand enclosed in his. _

_As they arrived at Storm Chargers, he gave her hand a squeeze "You should go home, you look tired" Perhaps she would think it was a dream, but he wasn't that lucky. _

"_I will" He climbed out of the vehicle, to her despair_

"_See you later okay?" He hoped that her mental status wouldn't decrease anymore than it had by the time he saw her again. _

_She nodded, before looking to the sky. _

_Leaving her was hard, but it had to be done. _

_Entering the shop, he decided to seek out Kelly and tell her that he had to take his break now. Talking to the reds was at the top of his list at the moment. But unfortunately for him, the store was packed. Relieving the exhausted looking cashier who glared at him before disappearing. _

_He steadily worked his way through the line, all while keep an eye out for his boss. When the shop had finally emptied, he spotted her. _

"_I need to take my break" _

_Keep my voice calm and collect, he thought, knowing that she wasn't going to react well. She didn't deal with him being late well, so when he was late and when he wanted off early; she wasn't going to be happy. _

"_And why would you need off?" Her tone was still calm, but he knew that she was about to yell at him. Kelly was what you might call a 'silent bomb' her anger sneaked up to explode in your face when you thought you were in the clear. And the technique was undetectable to most, except to him who had finally figured out how to see the small warning signs. For example, her gaze was on the clipboard in front of her instead of him; which meant she was trying to not send a death glare his direction. Another thing was that her foot was tapping in a steady pace which was much different than her usual leisure like pace, her blood was pumping at the idea of him leaving. The bomb was getting ready to go off, at least he was prepared. _

"_Tori's having a bad day and I was going to go take her some ice cream" The fact that he would do that was true, but it wasn't what he was going to do. Truth was that he was going to go yell at his partners in crime. The sentence was perfect to give any chance of him getting off work, he was helping someone. And it wasn't just anyone, it was Tori, who Kelly was good friends with. _

"_Bad day?" She echoed, her tone seeping concern. His plan was working, the anger was gone. _

"_Yeah, her 'time' has come with really bad cramps" Seeing Kelly wince, he knew he had it in the bag. Pain, especially the kind that his boss was familiar with, had sealed the deal. _

"_Be back soon" Then she turned to walk away, he would smile except the grin was not acceptable for the situation. Strolling from the store, after working exactly ten minutes, he was surprised to see the van. _

_She was still here, was something wrong? _

_Trying to keep himself from sprinting to the vehicle, he found himself by the van's window in what seemed an instant. _

_There she was. _

_The sounds of a world around him went deaf. _

_Gripping the steering wheel like she was hanging on for dear life was Tori, her blue eyes raised to the sky. _

"_Tori" With the name, he tapped on the window _

_Getting her attention imminently, she turned to meet his gaze. _

_Shit. _

_As she rolled down the window, he knew his worst fear had been realized; it had gotten worse. He had hoped, no begged to the heavens, that the effects of the horrible plan wouldn't get worse. _

_But looking at her as she smiled at him with the unmistakable look of exhaustion on her face, he knew that it had gotten worse. On the outside, her red eyes and frazzled hair was enough to suggest something had happened, but on the inside he knew that she was falling apart. Tori wasn't a very emotional person, it took a lot to rattle her. _

_And being an idiot, he had been the one to deliver the perfect sucker punch. _

"_Hey" Everything about the word was classic Tori, but he knew that there was so much she was holding back. _

"_I told you to go home and get some rest" He really wasn't sure where that had come from, but maybe she would go home so that he could figure this out with the others. If she got some rest, then perhaps she would not look like something in the classification of the living dead when Cam and Blake saw her. The two would notice that something was up, then not only would he be kicking his own ass for being involved, they would too. _

"_I know" She replied, he mentally smirked. There was no reason for that reaction, but he knew that she had completely ignored him. It wasn't unusual; but she was being honest. She was being crystal clear with the fact that she had gone deaf on his request, unlike himself who was lying straight to her face by not telling her. _

"_You okay?" They met eyes, he could see the pain. Guilt radiated through him, why did he let this happen? _

"_Yeah" The simple denomination of 'Yes' was a slap to the face for him, because he knew it was a lie. Not that Tori hadn't lied to him, but when he knew that it was his fault that she was lying to cover the sorrow…it broke his heart. _

_A sigh escaped him, he needed to end this before he blurted something out that he would regret; though there was nothing more that haunt him than the image of her at the moment. "Go home and rest" _

"_I was thinking of going to ninja ops" He tried not to twitch, she could NOT go there. The clueless duo would see her and ask what had happened, and then it would be open season on his ass. Not that Tori had any idea that it was him or the others, but suspicion would fall to the three of them, he was sure of it. _

"_You need to relax without us guys annoying you" He really hoped it would work, although the logical part of his mind was telling him that she would want to be near them. To make sure that they were okay…_

"_But…" He wasn't going to let her argue _

_He really hoped he could pull what he was about to attempt off. Narrowing his eyes ever so slightly, he made his voice to be solid; like his element. "Home. Now." He had seen Shane use the tone many times, solid, soft, and slightly demanding. _

"_Yes Shane" He had to crack a grin at that, she had caught on to his technique in a moment's time. This was to be expected from her, to recognize when he was ripping off their best friend's personality. _

"_We'll chill tonight, how about that?" He knew this would work, she would compromise with him and he could check on her condition later. Not that she wouldn't get worse…right? He hoped to god not. _

"_Ninja Ops?" She replied; he had her hooked. Hopefully they would have the mess figured out by then and know what they were going to do. _

"_Monster movie marathon?" His suggestion was a good one; she wouldn't have time to focus on what happened with blood thirsty zombies on the screen. Huddled between himself and Shane, she would feel safe. _

"_Bet you Hunter screams like a girl" He let out a snicker, that would be hilarious. The brave crimson ranger being scared by a bunch of special effects, he would pay to see that. _

_But then he realized that he was being sidetracked, he had to focus on making sure she forgot; even if it was impossible for her to do so. _

"_DUSTIN!" _

_That was Kelly, what did she want? _

"_I'll get the popcorn" He slowly backed away from the window, slightly relived to see a smile on her face. He had to deal with his boss and then get back to the others. _

"_I'll get the skittles!" She yelled back as he entered the shop and her face was gone. _

_Turning to see Kelly he knew he had to make this fast. _

"_Here's your phone" The device was handed to him, it was his. Searching his pockets, he found them to be empty; how did it fall out? _

"_Thanks" With the grateful response, he crammed the phone back into his pocket and jogged towards the forest's edge. When he was given a brief lapse of public eyes watching him, streaking through the forest became his way to travel. _

_They had to figure this out, they had to make it right. _

_He had to make it right. _

_He had to fix his mess. _

_No matter what the others said, it was his fault. He was the one that had agreed to the plan in the first place, he was the one who had held the object that she had come for. There had to have been a better way to get back at her, but instead they went with this. _

_When he saw the others, he was going to either maim them or ask the to slap him. With the slap, perhaps he would wake up from this terrible nightmare. But he already knew he wouldn't, it was reality. _

_A bitter sweet reality. _

_Seeing the rangers he had to talk to, he knew two things to be true. _

_They had fucked up…_

_Slowing his pace to stop right in front of them, fury and sorrow surged. _

…_and it was all his fault. _

_

* * *

_

There were three categories as far as he was concerned.

The bosses, the competitors, and the chilaxers.

The first group consisted of Cam and Tori, also known as the 'Mom and Dad' of their team. While the two were not together as a couple, they filled their roles very well. Cam made sure that they knew what the hell they were getting into when going into battle. He also reprimanded when they broke or lost something. Example being that they once lost Sensei. They had only taken him to the pet shop, where some employee had… later they had had to pull a pissed off guinea pig out of the hordes others, pay for him (they had been twenty dollars poorer), and then give Cam his small naked father. That had gone well. About as well as a bomb going off. A nuclear…no and atomic bomb. In the end, they had feared for their lives for a few days. Tori on the other hand, was softer and sweeter. She still yelled at them for time to time, told them to suck it up and move on. But she, unlike Cam, gave plenty of sympathy. For example, when he fell off his bike, she had asked him okay. Then she had slapped him for trying to go off the huge ramp in the first place. While he had recovered from that, she (like any good mother) had lectured him. She had even grounded them before and they obeyed, not wanted to upset her. So dealing with her was easier that Cam. She was definitely the responsible one of the team, well besides samurai.

The second group consisted of himself and Shane. They were the big brothers of the six. They fought and teased about everything; they were also very competitive. They watched out for the team, especially their little brothers. He had Blake, the skateboarder had Dustin. Perhaps it was something that had started when they had first met, when they had first glared at each other; but everyday was a challenge. Everything was a game that both were wanting to win. They were both reds, they fought mostly about what to do during battle. But they also could collaborate very well when danger was present and that was sometimes the few times when they got along. Perhaps you could also call them the muscle of the team, the bodyguards. But in the end they were cocky smartasses, who made sure that anything that could be fought about was fought about.

And then last but not least were Blake and Dustin. The people who were always cool, calm, and collected. As the little brother group, they were the tension breakers. Blake always tried to see the positive, as Dustin kept everyone in chuckles with his jokester antics. Both had very good handles on their emotions, which made them perfect people to help the others get through a hard time.

But if he, Hunter Bradley, really thought about; there were more than three groups.

There were subcategorizes, it even went farther than that. Cam could, he rarely was, be reckless and sometimes he shrugged off being the responsible one because he couldn't take it anymore. Tori had done crazy things before; she was also a very emotionally grounded person. The female was also considered the 'baby' of the group. While she was just as old as them, she was the one they all protected fiercely. So while she was a parent at times, she also was watched very carefully. Shane was very responsible, when he wanted to be, making sure that his leadership roles did not go unchecked. His crimson self was also responsible; he made sure that he went on the unsafe ramp before Blake or Dustin, so that if anyone got hurt it was himself. The yellow ranger could be very moody on specific days, just as Blake could be very competitive. Like when the three were racing against each other, it was game on. Their team was like a giant puzzle, each had their own specific place that related to the other five pieces equally.

All that being said, it was slightly worrying Hunter that Dustin was missing. One puzzle piece was already missing in action and another had fallen though a tree. He couldn't believe he was even thinking that, it was impossible!

The others were also getting worried, four pairs of eyes looking blankly at the tree trunk where their teammate had just been. What had happened to their dirt boy?

"Shit" Their eyes turned to see the three that had been enemies to them a minute ago sighing in turn

"Couldn't you fucking control yourself for a minute?" One of them, in yellow, was rubbing his temples like if he didn't he was going to explode.

"But you heard…" The guy in the middle, the one who Shane was now glaring at, shot back

"Yes, we all heard what he said; obviously he didn't know about M…" The final guy in green was cut off by a growl from the dark haired red

"I will punch you if you finish that sentence"

"Well it's not my fault you are an idiot"

"Xander, I swear to god…"

"Chill out mate, you are the one who overreacted in the first place"

"I did not, the asshole…"

"Did nothing, you took it personally"

The ninjas watched the argument go back and forth in shock and slight confusion. They were talking about Dustin for some reason, what had happened while they had been fighting each other?

What really bothered the four was that they didn't seem worried at all about the person who had fallen through a tree, their teammate. They seemed to know what was going on, and the elder team decided to get answers.

Shane took the lead "Xander right?" The argument in process stopped as all three strangers turned to look at him.

"That's me" The green mystic replied

Nick and Chip took a slightly defensive position around their teammate, they might not be getting along but there was no way in hell that they were going to let him talk to these strangers alone. This did not go unnoticed by the four tourists, who observed that the three were doing the same that they were.

"I was wondering if you could tell us…" The red air ninja's sentence was cut off by none other than Hunter

"What the fucking hell happened to our friend?" The crimson ranger growled

"Dumbass!" Blake hissed as he and Cam simultaneously slapped the blond upside the head.

The mystics observed this with interest; it was strange that the group was doing the same that the Vida and Chip had done before to Xander many times before.

"Sorry about that, he's having a bit of a bad day" Shane said quickly, while turning to glare at the other red for a moment

"It's fine, so is he" The yellow mystic motioned towards his team's leader

"So about out friend…" Blake ran off

The three seemed to meet eyes, trying to decide what to say. Oh, he fell into another world where there are monsters that will probably try to eat him…like they could say that.

"He fell through a tree" With eyebrows raised, the four looked at Nick. That was not what they had wanted to hear, due to the fact that they had already rejected that theory.

The ninjas said nothing.

"Nice job mate" Xander patted Nick on the shoulder "Nice fucking job"

"Shut up" The fire boy replied

"I'll go get their friend, you two explain what's going on…with as few details as possible" Chip said under his breath so that the four would hear.

The two nodded in agreement.

Then, to the surprise of the ninja rangers, the previously stressed out yellow male walked towards and then **through** the tree that Dustin had gone through. With their jaws about to drop, it did not help that a orange head stuck back through.

"What's his name?"

"Who?" Cam sputtered

Chip rolled his eyes, walk through a tree and they are speechless "Your friend"

"Dustin" Shane replied in a very confused tone

Then the head disappeared…

Leaving four very confused ninjas, two mystics unsure of what to do, and a tree very unsolid tree behind.

* * *

"What do you mean?" She was slightly confused at the moment

"What do you mean Connor?" Trent asked

The red dino sighed "If something like this happened to Kira, I would hope that someone gave her all the support she needed. If that meant comfort food or keeping the three of us away, I would hope that someone helped her. I am not helping you out of sympathy, but because I wanted to make sure that I put out what I would want for Kira. Does that make sense?"

She nodded, as did the other males, in understanding. He was helping her because he saw her as a person that could be Kira in a few years. There was no doubt that he would try and stop that, but if it did happen; he wanted to treat her like he hoped that other teams would treat the yellow ranger.

"But that's only part of it, I also feel…" Connor ran off

"Yes?" She waited for him to continue

"What he means to say, is that we feel this urge to…" Ethan wasn't really sure how to explain it.

"Not anything weird, but...um…" The white ranger tried to fill in the gaps

"You want to protect me from all sorts of harm, both physical and mental. There is also the fury that drives you to rip my team's heads off, plus you want to make sure that I feel accepted; happy. Am I right?" Their jaws dropped as she said this

"How did you?" The red sputtered

"It's instinct that is programmed into every man, the feeling that you need to protect what is yours. Not that I am yours, but I am a ranger which makes you feel responsible for what happened. Especially you Connor, because you are a red ranger. You take care of others, so when you see me you see a failure on your part."

All they could do was nod, because she had put into words what they could not.

Moving a piece of hair from her face, she continued "It's kind of like the male version of mother bear syndrome, but instead of protecting children you protect women. While it has been proven false, it is still felt by men that women are weaker; so they need protecting. You are offering me this because you feel obligated because you are felt driven to do so. While you haven't extended this offer to the sisters yet, you will once you spend more time with them. So in short, there is nothing weird about it; it's just something burned into your mind to do."

"How do you know all this?" Ethan asked, astonished at the new rush of information he had just heard

"I have five male teammates remember?" She grinned for a moment, before remembering who she was talking about.

There was silence for a moment, before something broke it.

"THEY FUCKING DID WHAT?"

Stepping to see where the noise had come from, they saw Hailey. Fists balled and eyes narrowed, the four instantly knew what had happened. Kira must have given her the short version, because when the redhead saw Tori she ran to her. Wrapping the ranger in a hug, the older women squeezed her gently before giving her a smile.

"Hailey, what…" Before the newly appeared black ranger could finish, the female began to plan

"Get them arrested, burn their stuff…" She rambled as the luggage carrying females appeared

"You told her?" Trent asked

"She wanted to how Tori was, I thought she needed to know" Kira shrugged

"Bury them up to their necks…" Hailey was cut off

"In sand, we can use his shovels" Again, Dr. Oliver glared at the white ranger for suggesting the idea

The older women snorted in ridicule "In an ant hill maybe, but sand is too tame"

The males' eyes went wide as evil smiles appeared on the females' faces.

"I like the way she thinks" Vida said

"We could even do permanent damage to their family jewels…"

The men's faces paled as their hands fell in front of their weakest point.

"So do I" Her sister added with a malicious gleam in her eye

"Now we can take revenge to the next level" Kira smiled with a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

"Damn straight" The redhead turned to Tori "Don't you worry…"

With a sweet, comforting smile the hacker proceeded to make a promise.

"…they will pay"

* * *

_Taking a deep breath, he began to bang his head against a tree trunk. _

_Perhaps, he theorized, the pain was a fraction of what Tori was feeling. He had seen the tears, her body shaking in complete and utter confusion. At the moment, he wanted to crawl underneath a rock and never come out. He was her friend, he didn't deserve her. She was a good person, he was a heartless bastard. How could he let this happen? _

"_Dude, it's not going to help" _

_Turning to glare at Hunter, he found that the crimson ranger was hanging upside down from a branch about ten feet up. His head now slightly reminded him of a tomato, the blood had rushed to his head. _

"_What are you doing?" He asked, the thunder ninja seemed to be doing out of leisure, although he knew from personal experience that it was not fun to hang for that long. _

"_Same as you, 'cept that I'm getting dizzy instead of a headache" The dirty blond replied as he flipped in mid air to land on the ground. After stumbling for a moment and stretching his limbs, the other red stood solidly on his own two feet. _

"_Why did you tell me it wouldn't help but you are punishing yourself?" While waiting for an answer, he rolled his neck to try and get rid of some of the stiffness that comes from slamming one's head against a hard surface. _

"_Because, while I know it won't help, I can't bear for myself to be pain free when she's not" The answer completely made sense, he guessed that was the reason why he had been hitting wood earlier. _

"_I can't believe…" He ran off _

_He was the leader, he was suppose to prevent shit like this from happening, but no he was the one who caused it! Why had he done such a thing to the person that kept them all together?_

"_What do we do?" Meeting Hunter's gaze, he had no idea how to answer. How to fix the sorrow and guilt, how to erase what had been done, how were they suppose to do that? _

_He did not have the slightest idea where to start…_

"_Dude, we got a plan yet?" _

…_and yet there was Dustin, wondering if they had come up with something. The unfortunate answer was no, they did not have magic dust to clean up their mess. _

_Instead of voicing this, he instead put it off to ask the wind ranger a question "How is she?" _

_Walking closer to hear the answer, it was clear that the crimson male had wanted to ask the same question, only he had gotten there first. _

"_On the edge, I sent her home" Meeting the yellow's gaze, he could see the guilt in his eyes as a dull sentence with no emotion was said _

"_God, we really fucked up" Hunter sighed, in the aspect that he might ask one of them to punch him in a moment. _

_What were they going to do? He was utterly lost with no fucking idea. Usually he came up with plans, but now he was fresh out of ideas. _

"_What are we going to do? She'll murder us" Then Dustin asked the dreaded question again, one that he did not have the answer to. But another point was raised to their attention, what if she found out? Not that they planned on that happening, but what if it did? How would they handle that? _

_More questions, more that he could not answer. _

"_Get rid of it and pretend it never happened?" He wished he could do that, just destroy and forget. _

"_Works for me" With that, Hunter scaled into the trees overhead, to where they knew the incriminating evidence was. A moment later, what he knew to be his sound system came crashing down from its perch. The crimson ninja then appeared to land on it, smashing it into bits. Moving away from the destroyed device, the blond looked up for their approval. _

_He felt himself nod, before taking off. _

_The others followed of course, but he wished that he could outrun all his problems. _

_Get rid of the pain. _

_Arriving outside ninja ops, he quickly entered. _

"_That was a great plan" He heard the thunder ranger mutter _

"_Then why did you go along with it?" His hissed response was heard as they entered to see Cam and Blake. They had to make sure that the duo did not find out, it would be catastrophic… _

"_The same reason you went go along with the plan" _

_He turned to glare at the elder Bradley. Blake noticed, coming to stand on the sidelines as Dustin collapsed on the floor to be oblivious to their fight. Cam retained his ignorance as he focused on the computer in front of him. _

"_That's a great reason" Snarling, he ignored the flash of blue in the corner of his eye _

_Hunter's eyes narrowed for some reason. _

"_At least I have a reason" _

_About to retort in a nasty way, he heard something that made him freeze. _

"_Hi" _

_It was Dustin's voice, but who was he speaking to that his voice rose about five octaves. _

"_Hi?" _

_Eyes wide, he turned to see the last person he wanted to see a the moment. _

_Anger radiated out from out from her, she knew. _

"_That's all you have to say?" _

_No matter how he wanted to, he couldn't forget. _

_The past could not be erased. _

_Then two things became crystal clear. _

_The team had been split apart by pain…_

_Taking a deep breath, he took a step forward "Tor…" _

…_and it was all his fault. _

_

* * *

_

Deep in the forest, the one known as Dustin ran for his life.

So far, he had been able to avoid the slime balls and the energy blasts, but he had no idea where he was going. Due to that fact, his foot caught on a tree root, which sent him to the ground. Had he been in his own forest, this would not have happened, because he knew where all the tree roots were in his forest because he had tripped over them before.

Being down for less than a minute proved to be his downfall, as he was surrounded by the FUKS. As one approached, he blocked out his comic book side and kick the minion back. To his surprise, his foot did not melt away from acid burns.

He smiled evilly, which took the evil minions by surprise.

Time to kick ass, he thought.

"NINJA STORM, RANGER FORM! HA!"

* * *

Entering the forest, he was not a happy ranger.

Couldn't Nick control himself, for once in his fucking life? That would be a no. Any mention of girls not liking him, example being this 'Dustin' person's comment, led him straight to Maddie which let him to see the same color that he wore.

"Dustin!" Chip called, wishing for the fifth time in the last five minutes that the girls were here. They would have deflated the fight before it had even begun and then he wouldn't be hunting for the poor sap that had fallen through the tree.

Not that he didn't mind looking for the other yellow male. He was actually sort of worried for him to tell the truth. The guy had complimented his cape and not in the usual sarcastic way that he heard ninety-nine percent of the time, plus he was wearing the awesomest color ever. Perhaps they could be friends, if only he could find the guy.

A pile of goop grabbed his attention; he recognized the purple stuff immediately.

"Hidiacs" He said aloud before taking off into the forest

The Master's minions were here, he had to find Dustin fast or…he didn't even want to think about what could happen.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"

The yellow suit surrounded him, as he prepared to end the lives of the monsters before they could even touch the other man.

He just hoped that he got there in time to do that.

* * *

The Styxoid leading the band of minions grunted as the yellow ranger he was fighting got in a good shot, sending him down. The forces that not been destroyed already swarmed to protect him as he landed in a pile of brush.

For a moment, he just watched.

It was a ranger, but it was not the yellow ranger that he was familiar with. Different lines, different design, everything was different about this new ranger. Perhaps the team had had a makeover?

About to rise to his feet, the yellow mystic that he was sworn to fight appeared.

He did a double take, two rangers?

How were there two of them? It didn't make any sense.

Abandoning those under him, he hid behind a tree to watch.

The yellow duo seemed to fall into an easy pattern to work together, like they had seen each other before. That theory was proved wrong though, when his forces fell to just leave the horrible persons who represented all things good.

The two faced each other in confusion and curiosity.

They hadn't met before, that meant that there was a new team of rangers in town. Because where there was one, there was more.

Sneaking away into the forest, he knew what he had to do.

He had to tell his Master of the new_ opportunity_ that had arrived in town.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

Wooooooow, that was a looooooong chapter!

So what will Dustin and Chip think of each other?

Will Shane and the others ever get answers?

And what evil does Hailey have in mind?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	15. Silence and Shock

So, you take...

3 moronic ninjas (A dirt boy, an air head, and a brooding idiot)

+ 2 pissed rangers (The tag team combo of Blazing Blake and Computer Cam)

2 immature males (A fire baby and an earth flunky)

+ 1 stressed out 'about to kill someone' mystic (The 'dipped in chocolate' Chip)

3 angry teenage dinos (Protective, comforting, and ass kicking)

4 fury filled females (Also known as B3s. **B**eautiful **B**adass **B**itches!)

* * *

*~CHAPTER 15~*

They aren't mine! But dudes, I wish I did!

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

Also: To Kelly- There will be Blake/Tori fluff, but not in the chapter. I apologize for it, but there was no way I could fit it in. But next chapter, there will be some! Thanks for reading!

ANN: **There's a poll on my profile, I would be ever so grateful if you guys (and girls) voted in it! Free cyber hug from the kickass girls! **

Tori: "Anyone want a huggie for reading…"

Maddie: "…our tale of heartache and sorrow? For everybody, thank you so much for supporting us and…"

Vida: "… thanks for supporting the decapitation and skinning of some very specific jackasses! I can't wait…"

Kira: "…to get my hands on them!" *Grins evilly*

**Hey buddy! You, ya you! **

**You wanna buy a chapter? I got chapters here real cheap! **

**All ya gotta do is gimmie a review and you'll see the chapter soon enough. **

**Get it?**

**Got it?**

**Good. **

TIME FOR: 

NINJA THUNDER FORCE! [This is my fav!]

STORMY MYSTIC THUNDER!

FORCEFUL THUNDER STORM!

ENJOYYYY!

* * *

Words always flowed.

Ask anyone around him, the statement was true in every aspect for him. Arranging syllables to for strands of letters, conversation about anything pertaining to the situation at hand. He was almost always talking, about many things. Girls, work, girls, ranger duties, girls, how hard training was, did I mention girls? You get the picture.

Talking came easily and naturally to him; his family said that he had been blabbering since he was young. Some of his earliest memories were of being given a lollipop so that he would be quiet for a few moments. Some, including his own teammates, said that he talked too much. Shrugging it off, he would then retaliate with a long argument that would eventually turn into a conversation about nothing. He was pretty convincing when he wanted to be, although Vida and the others would say otherwise.

So when faced with the situation of explaining how a person had fallen through a tree, to four protective males, he found it to be a very difficult challenge. From their reactions earlier, he could tell that the strangers were very close to the yellow man. For a moment, he had considered what the connection was. They weren't brothers; two were White, two were of some island descent or something, and one was Asian. Unless they had all been adopted, he mused that it was probably some crazy house if they all lived there. But the tall one had said 'their friend' so it wasn't true, although most of their behavior pointed to his first theory. Maybe they were all just friends, but why did they seem so protective? They were acting like Vida did when something happened to Maddie, like a mother bear (or sister) with a missing cub. If Nick fell through a tree, he would laugh his ass off and then perhaps help him. Maybe, considering that the guy had been a complete asshole the last few hours or so.

The four looked, with their shocked and confused faces, in his direction for his explanation. He wasn't supposed to be doing this alone; he did have a comrade…

"I'll be right back"

…that was now leaving him!

Turning to see the slowly diminishing figure of his red, he shot back in slight desperation "Where are you going?"

Without turning, Nick held up his phone of a morpher while responding "Making a call"

"Nick!" Hissing the word, he tried not to let the nervousness seep through

"Have fun" Then a specific smirking red person turned a corner and then it dawned on him, he was alone. By himself, in a place he would rather not be.

Alone.

The word resonated for a moment, before slight panic set in.

Don't **leave **me! Shrieking the words internally, he started to wait for someone to turn the corner, to fucking help him! But did anyone come…no. That asshole, he growled silently.

"So, how about that explanation?" Darting back to look at another red man, whose arms were crossed across his chest, that did not look happy. He wanted answers, ones that his green self wasn't sure how to phrase correctly. Two dark eyes were piercing him in a manner that reminded him of a glare that Nick would give when his team was in danger. He found it strange that the person in front of him was doing so, why…never mind, he decided, now was not the time.

What was he going to do? His internal, very repressed, girly side appeared to let out a high pitched scream of **HELP ME!** that he was sure would break glass if given the opportunity. Well, perhaps that was a plus side to Nick not see him have a breakdown.

"_What is he doing?" _

"_What any normal person would do if in this situation" _

"_Well he is not normal" _

"_Neither are you" _

"_I resent that" _

"_Of course you do sister" _

"_XANDER, MAN THE FUCK UP!" _

"_Vida! Don't be mean, he needs help!" _

Looking blankly to the place where he was sure the so familiar voices had come from, all he found was empty space. No girls, no teammates to support him. There wasn't Vida, telling him to grow some balls, nor was there Maddie, giving him a sweet smile while swatting her sister for the previous comment. Waiting with hope, he kept his eyes trained on the spot; perhaps they would appear and save the day like they usually would. Then he would say **fuck it** to the challenge of explanation and wrap the two in a hug. The pink would shove him off, the water would embrace him. Then, arm in arm, they would leave the four behind and forget that they ever existed. His clouded eyes refocused to see…

Nothing, they were gone.

The single solitary thought, the one that had torn their team apart.

The one that had turn Chip into an aggressive and irritated opposite of his sweet self. Vida would have kept him in line, they balanced each other out. Her anger was complimented perfectly with his kindness, like a spicy dish with a cool wine.

The one that had turn Nick into his old self, the person that kept everyone out; the asshole that had first arrived on his cycle what seemed like an eternity ago. Maddie, her little shy self had been the one to drawn him out of his hardened shell. Regressing back to that without her must have been instinct for him. The leader's opposite had disappeared, leaving a fire of destruction raging out of control, without cooling blue to calm and reassure. Most would assume that the younger Rocca was one of the weaker links and that the red ranger was the strongest, it was bullshit. So much came from the small smile that hid behind a camera, she brought something that made even Nick's hardest frown turn upside down. The tough, burning fire needed the refreshing, calm water; even if the red would never admit it.

That fact, that the glue of the mystics had run; had been driven away out of pain, was where it had always been. Hanging over his head as a dark cloud, as the weight breaking his back; it was always there.

"I'm listening" The tall blonde from earlier said in a low tone as he flanked the other red in a symbol of support. Simply it stated 'you mess with him, you mess with me' and while the two had been bickering a moment before, the bonds between the two, the four seemed strong. There was no doubt in his mind that anyone of them would go through to blood for the others, perhaps even die. He had friendships like the ones in front of him; he had people that would go to war for him and vice versa. The reason being that he had a team that he fought with against evil, fellow rangers to trust and support. But what did they have? He had no time to examine the brotherhood of sorts in front of him.

The darker shade of red and the others copied the main man's pose of 'tell us **now**'. He found himself the target of four well placed death glares, each ready to rip him apart. They seemed to easily put on a serious look, like they had practiced it in the past. Had he not been faced with the challenge presented, he might have snorted in amusement at the thought that they practiced their glare. Having noticed their physique, he was sure that they could kick his ass. With that said, taking off to avoid the talk to come was a bad idea. Now he was a ranger, but using his powers against innocents was against the unspoken ranger rules. Perhaps he could get Maddie to help calm the tension down to a manageable level or maybe Vida would growl at them…he sighed, oh right he had run the sisters off. Not only did he miss them, he really wished that they were here to help him where Nick had taken off.

"Well…um…"

He, Xander Bly, found this moment to be a first.

There were many firsts that had happened in his life.

His first job, thanks to Toby.

His first time on camera, a grinning Maddie swiveling around him for a better view.

His first motorcycle ride, a laughing Nick running behind him trying to keep up.

His first ranger morph, or first ranger suit, after Udonna organized the team.

His first nutshot, via a very mad Vida.

His first time being hit with a slimy mixture, one of Clare's accidents.

His first time seeing a talking, five foot cat; there was no one quite like Jenji.

His first time riding a golden magic train that was floating at the height reserved for most airplanes, Daggeron's version of giving them a ride to work.

His first time fighting to the death with tubes of wrapping paper in a walmart aisle, with people snickering, staring, and laughing; enjoying every minute of it…all of which was orchestrated by the cape wearing superhero known as the yellow mystic ranger, Chip.

He considered now, the situation at hand, to be another first.

Because for the moment, the first moment he could remember in his entire life, he wasn't talking…

Being stared down by four men who meant business, it was hard trying to think with their eyes trying to kill him. They had questions, ones that he had no idea how to respond to. How do you tell someone that the impossible had just happened, right in front of their eyes? Nothing registered as a respectable explanation.

…he was speechless.

* * *

_Ring around the rosy_

_ Pocket full of posies _

_ Ashes, Ashes _

_ And we all fall down..._

The tune, sung by so many, echoed in is head.

Again and again.

He heard it as he circled his reflection.

Around and around.

Each step was carefully planned, so that his eyes could always be glued to the other man. A misstep would be disastrous; getting attacked by the new figure was possible. Perhaps later, he would remember the serious moment and realize that the words were not appropriate for the moment.

He should be looking for Dustin.

He should be calling the others mystics about the attack.

He should be talking to the new ranger.

Instead he was silent, in a temporary state of shock.

Lightning ran through his veins, in the form of excitement.

Having heard of the other teams, he had wanted to make contact but never knew how. This was like a dream come true for him, to find another ranger (another yellow for that matter!) to talk to. Exchange experiences, just hang out. And it was a male yellow, he knew he wasn't the only one, but to meet the other one was just enough to wipe his memory of his other responsibilities.

Speaking would be good, he knew that much, but what to say?

It was obvious that the other ranger was his senior, due to the fact that the mystics were the newest team he knew of. 'Hey' he thought, perhaps that would be a good opener. Nah, it was lame. Trying to think of something to say, he considered one question he wanted to ask, among many circling his mind.

Why was he here?

Was he here alone, was the whole team here?

Who was his team, what were his powers, his zord?

Okay, that was more than one question, but he was really curios. The first was the one that was burning the most, needing to be answered. While it wasn't exactly uncommon for teams to visit each other, what was the reason for a team to visit them?

"_Who the fucking hell are you?" _

Now Vida, he thought, be nice to the new guy.

His imagination was bringing her up; she would have gone with him to look for Dustin after all. She would be aggressive, he would calm her down. That's how it was, that's how it always was.

With everything (The questions, the girls, Dustin) in his head, his body continued the loop it had been assigned.

Around and around.

His mind also supplied background music.

Again and again.

"Ring around the rosy" The muttered words reached his ears

Around, Again.

"Pocket full of posies" He continued out of habit, after so many childhood years of spinning around.

"Ashes, ashes" The other figure said aloud, his set of eyes raised to look straight at the other person's dark visor. The new ranger did the same, they had made a connection.

Before, they had been focusing on the person, the bright colored suit; but now they were focusing on the fact that beside the suit was a person. A normal, or abnormal, person just like them.

The circling stopped; the tune was all that remained.

"And we all fall down..." The words came from his mouth, and then there was silence.

It wasn't a normal silence.

It was a quiet that separated people, kept them apart.

Something broke the silence, had he not been smiling, his jaw would have dropped.

A giggle, actually it was more of a hearty laugh.

"Singing that song, at my age" The other person chuckled

It was funny, being so serious when it wasn't a big deal.

They had found each other, call the army!

"And then there was a serious pause of silence" He narrated in a low voice, he was sure that the other person was smirking behind their helmet

"Dude, this is so not how I expected to meet you" The silence broken, the person seemed to bloom into what Chip assumed what his normal personality was.

"Neither did I" He replied, this was what he wanted. To talk with another ranger, another person that knew of the power, the responsibility, everything that came with the team.

Then there was another pause, but it was a happy, joyful filled one.

What next? The question seemed to hand in the air between them.

"Power down"

The words echoed the woods surrounding them, as their voices combined.

A yellow glow surrounded them, as the suits disappeared.

His orange hair visible, he looked to see the identity of the other person…

His mouth went dry, his eyes wide.

"Dustin…"

* * *

Being evil was fun.

The statement was true for her at the moment, even though she carried the symbol of good on her hip. While she had fought the Master, she also saw how Necroli had fun in torturing people. It was innocents being attacked and her targets were Rangers; it was easy to see that revenge could be fun. Sitting with allies, both male and female, reassured her that everything would be alright.

"I like the ant hill idea" Vida said, opening the meeting, with Kira scratching the words down on the pad in her lap.

A meeting.

From the outside, it might look small and not a threat; but they were planning evil. Tori had suggested it. It had been awhile since the alliance was together, so it was perfect. Planning the murders, or punishments, of a specific multicolored group of bastards.

They would die, it had been decided.

"I know someone in Nevada that had a very large colony of them" Hailey added

"Perfect" The yellow dino smirked

"It should be spiders for Shane" A voice piped up

"Why?" Trent asked

The guys were listening in, to make sure that nothing too extreme would be planned (Dr. O) and that they could help with spreading the evil (The others).

"Shane is afraid of spiders" The lone ninja replied with an evil smile

"Put him in a container filled with spiders?" She mused aloud

"Nice" Her sister nodded in approval

"Isn't Dustin afraid of something?" Ethan muttered, trying to rack his brain for the answer

"Falling" Tori supplied

"We throw him off a cliff then" Connor's knuckles cracked if on cue

"So, the winds are done; what about the others?" Kira read off her sheet

"Hunter…"

The name sent the group into a brainstorm session of the dark kind

Distracting her from thinking, her phone buzzed on her side. She had put it on vibrate, so she would hear of the monster attacks; trying to forget. Someone was trying to call her, but why? Perhaps it was Clare she mused, she should answer.

"I'll be right back" She said, unholstering the device of good

The group members registered her words, but stayed silent in an attempt to keep their ideas on the tip of their tongues. The boys moved so that she could pass out the door, with small comforting smiles on their faces.

Leaving evil behind, she walked across the large lawn to where the tree line was before looking to the phone in hand. About to open it, the buzzing stopped.

"Damn" Muttering the word, she cursed the fact that she had missed the call

Had Rootcore been attacked, was the call a SOS?

Calm down, she told herself, she was letting her nerves getting to her again. They were fine, well except that the guys were assholes. She missed Clare, Daggeron, Uddona, Jenji …not seeing them ached. But to see them, she had to face them. Chip, Xander, Nick…she couldn't.

Bringing her from her thoughts was the alert that she had a message. Must be Clare, the others never left messages, instead they would just call again. Dialing in her password, she listened.

_You have one new message_

Really? She thought in sarcasm, I did not know that. She was getting mad at a machine she sighed; she really should not be so grumpy; it wasn't her nature.

_Playing message…_

There was nothing.

A few soft breaths, that was all that she heard.

"Great, just fucking great" About to close the phone in anger, she heard it

Freezing with the device to her ear, the words that followed spilled out from the caller.

But the one word had turned her into ice, fragile frozen water.

Tears flowed from her name, the message repeated itself.

It began again…

"_Maddie…_

Why? Her element ran down her cheeks.

"_I understand the reason, but I'm not calling about that. Actually I would rather talk about that in person, but…never mind. Chip and Xander miss you, they…I..." _

Sweet, spicy, sorrow filled her voice, him.

"_You have every right to ignore this, but…I want you to know that I'm so sorry, about everything." _

Her knees turned to jelly, her body shaking.

"_Maddie, I miss you…" _

He what? She shook her head, no, he hated her! It was lies, she had heard him. Why was he doing this to her!

"_I…" _

Then the last line hit her like a tone of bricks, the phone dropped to the ground as she slid to hug her knees.

It echoed, she would never forget.

The last line burned…

"Nick" She whispered

…just like the thought of him did.

* * *

"Dude…"

He had not seen that coming, never in a million years.

Discovering another ranger was cool, but for it to be the guy that had tried to help him? The cool cape guy, that was so awesome that he was a ranger.

"What a twist of fate" The other guy said, as they walked towards each other

"I'm Dustin Brooks, Ninja Storm yellow ranger" He held out his hand, thinking that he would really like to know the other guys name. It was very good that he had found the other ranger team, now they could ask about Tori.

"I know, your friends were concerned, so they sent me" The other person seemed relived that he was okay

"That sounds like them" He shrugged, but it was reassuring that his teammates were still concerned about him.

"Oh, I didn't tell you my name! Chip Thorn, Mystic Force yellow" The newly named Chip shook his hand with the excitement that was running through his veins.

"Nice to meet another yellow" Dustin smiled, he was glad that there was another yellow guy; not that Kira didn't get along with him; but a guy yellow was someone that perhaps he could relate to more.

"Nice to meet someone that likes the cape" The mystic grinned

"Wait till Shane hears about this, he's going to be shocked" The ninja mused aloud

"Shane…is he the red guy, the dark haired one?" The orange haired male asked, remembering the posse that had come to Dustin's aid. Then it hit him, the others were his team! That's why they had been so protective, it all fit.

"Yeah, he's my team's red" Dustin replied, knowing that the air ninja was probably having a breakdown with him missing.

The younger ranger smiled and then another thought hit him.

"Oh shit" Chip sputtered with wide eyes, before walking swiftly through the forest

"What, what's wrong?" A very confused earth ninja followed in his footsteps, finally matching his stride.

"I left your pissed team with my team…" He was cut off

"They're your teammates?" The stormy ranger remembered the other two, why had the red one attacked him?

"Yes, and if I know Nick…" Chip ran off

"Shane and the others will be on edge…" Dustin realized what had the mystic concerned

Two teams, two very mad ranger teams.

Left together, three hotheads.

"Fuck" The ninja swore

The other yellow nodded, as their power walk turned into a sprint.

They both understood, they knew...

While they were talking, they had left a bomb about to explode.

…that World War Three might have just broken out.

* * *

One red, one redhead, one black, one white, one yellow, one pink, one male blue, two female blues…

Connor cocked his head, a question interrupting his mental ranger count. The conversation had excluded himself and the boys, but they had stayed to watch. The girls were getting into the planning, very involved in every aspect. There was one thing worrying him, perhaps it was his red ranger instincts, but…

Where was Maddie?

He had seen her leave earlier, a phone clutched in her hand.

The thing was that she wasn't back yet, it had been a while; it was worrying him.

"_You take care of others…" _

Tori's words echoed his mind, she was right. Was he being overprotective because he wanted all the rangers to be safe, was that what all red rangers felt compelled to do? He would have to ask if he ever met another red, one that he didn't want to kill.

Moving out the door, he felt the eyes of the other guys following him; the girls didn't notice his exit. Wandering across the lawn, he wondered where she could have gone.

"MADDIE!" He called, half expecting her to pop out from behind a tree with a shy smile. Their relationship had gotten a bit better; he had completely understood that she was scared of him. A color in their cases defined them; after all it was what they were proud to be.

"C-connor?" The choked word had him sprinting towards it.

Then there she was.

Hair a mess, red eyes drowning in their own tears.

"What happened?" He kept his tone soft, spacing himself as not to crowd her; not to remind her of Nick.

There wasn't a response as he found himself being squeezed her. A tear stained face was pressed to his chest, two arms wrapped around waist. After the shock wore off, he was clueless. What was he suppose to do? Kira rarely had breakdowns and if she did, Hailey took care of her. What was he suppose to do about the girl who had flung herself at him?

Resisting the urge to pat her on the head, knowing that the action was a stupid one, he trued to think of what to do. What would Kira do?

Kira, the name brought an idea.

The question changed.

Now what to do, but what would he do if it was Kira?

He knew the answer.

His arms crossed across her back, as she sobbed. Staying silent, he saw Ethan and Trent out the corner of his eye.

"Get the girls" He mouthed, they nodded before disappearing

Then they were alone again.

Spying the phone on the ground, still open, he wondered if that was the reason. But it could wait; he had a job to do.

A red ranger job…

"Shhhh" He whispered in a soothing manner.

…which was to be there for others.

* * *

"_I miss you so much; I want you to be here with me" _

The line expressed so much; his heart had put it out.

Slowly, he closed the phone to stare at it for a moment; wishing that it would ring. For her to be at the other line…but he knew that the request would be ignored. Why should she do that for the person that had broken her heart? No reason surfaced.

Dragging his feet back towards the situation that he had caused, his heart ached at the fact that she hadn't answered. It was pointless to think she would, but still he had held the hope that…but it was a foolish dream.

Turning the corner, he saw Xander being glared at. On the outside, the earth bender was as blank; but he knew better. For one thing, there were no words being said. His teammate was usually talking nonstop, but now…silence. The green ranger was probably doing all he could to not tremble. While Xander was a big talker, he needed people to back him up; especially in the face of four pissed men.

"Hey, how's it going?" He asked, patting the green mystic on the shoulder in reassurance.

'I'm here'… he sent a gentle squeeze before releasing his hold

Flanking his solo friend, he realized how much he had fallen. Walking away to make the short call, he had let his comrade down. Great leader I am, he cursed himself for abandoning Xander. Raising his eyes to reflect the glares, he knew that he had to do better; he had to be there.

"It's going great, no thanks to you" The taller of the two red dressed replied

"I'm sorry, was I talking to you?" He snapped, knowing that the comment was rubbing salt in his guilt inflicted wounds

"No, but you should be" His eyes narrowed on the slightly smirked face of the navy of the four. Knowing he was being taunted, he replied in his usual manner…

"Sorry blue boy, I had something more important to take care of than focusing than your idiot of a friend that fell through a tree"

…cue being an asshole.

"So what was so important?" The only person wearing glasses hissed

"My girl had been traveling, I needed to make sure that she was okay, you know how that is right?" All their eyes narrowed while Xander's went wide at the point blank lie. "Guess not" He finished, since they didn't response to the question.

"You did WHAT?" He heard the green mutter under his breath

"Where's your buddy, shouldn't he be back?" The dark haired red growled

"It's a big forest, hopefully the moron didn't wander off" He shrugged, like he didn't care

"Dustin better not be hurt" Hunter said

"He won't be" Xander found his voice, to add the statement; trying to deescalate the situation. But it had already gone to far, there was no stopping it; the first domino had already fallen.

"Only if he didn't fall off a cliff or something" They were rubbing in his guilt, he was going to do the same.

There wasn't a response, only the movement of the person who had restrained him earlier coming forward. Cocking his head to side, he grinned.

"Bring it on" He was ready; there was nothing else he could lose.

A swinging fist came his way, which he dodged to throw his own.

But before it could connect…

"POWER OF EARTH!"

The ground shook, throwing him off balance.

Then there was a thunderbolt, sending him back into Xander. Falling to the ground in a pile of limbs, he knew two things.

He had lost her.

Nothing mattered, unless she was with him.

Nothing.

* * *

Reivews? Please!

So will the mystic and ninjas get along? *cough* Noooooo.

Will Conner figure out what is going on with Maddie?

And will Vida cuss out Nick?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	16. Perfectly perfect

**Look, in the sky! **

It's an asshole air head!

It's a brooding bastard!

It's a dick of a dirt boy!

NO, IT'S CHAPTER 16!

They aren't mine! Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: I have some jokes I hope you will like, here they are:

Number One: 

Tori: "Knock knock"

Nick: "Who's there?"

Tori: "Idiot"

Nick: "Idiot who?"

Tori: "IDIOT YOU, YOU ASSHOLE!"

*Bitch slaps him*

Number two: 

Vida: "Knock knock"

Hunter: "Who's there?"

Vida: "Heartless"

Hunter: "Heartless who?"

Vida: "Reverse that"

Hunter: "Wha?"

Vida: "Say what you just said backwards"

Hunter: "…?"

Vida: "Just do it"

Hunter: "Um….who heartless?"

Vida: "Who** is**"

Hunter: "Okay…who's heartless?"

Vida: "YOU ARE, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

*Punches him*

Now I like those kinds of jokes, they are funny in my opinion. They might be cheesy, but I love the punch (or slap) lines! And in the end, the boys get what they deserve. Thanks for putting up with the crappy jokes.

ANNN: Hey, I know it's been a while. I'M SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! I feel better with that off my chest; I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Hey buddy! You, ya you! **

**You wanna buy a chapter? I got chapters here real cheap! **

**All ya gotta do is gimmie a review and you'll see the chapter soon enough. **

**Get it?**

**Got it?**

**Good. **

HERE WE GOOOO!

Enjoyyyyy!

* * *

_Balance._

_He liked to be grounded, in control. _

_Being able to do what he wanted when he wanted was something he liked, a skill that he took for granted as he was finding out. Precision was what he needed, not something that was unpredictable. Not that everything in life was predictable, but a sign of what was coming would be wonderful. _

_Taking a breath, he remembered the words that she had told him. 'You've got to feel it', that had been her response when he asked how the hell he was going to do this. IT was a living, breathing thing that he had to get along with. Question was: how?_

_Another opportunity passed, but another was coming fast. Deciding to act before his nerves left him, he calmed himself and moved towards the 'chariot' that was going to let him tame the wave. Trying to find out the rhythm of the imposing force, he jumped onto the board and seemed to have it for a moment. _

"_Nice job" He smiled at the comment, his confidence boosting at the compliment; especially since it was from an angel. _

_It wasn't so hard, he decided, now that he was actually surfing. She had managed to convince him to give it a try, he had said no in the beginning due to the simple fact that water and thunder do not mix. Then she had pointed out that lightning and water do not mix, that thunder was a different thing entirely. Knowing that she had him, he agreed to the session with the future prediction that he was going to completely and utterly fail at the sport of riding the ocean. _

_But, he decided, it wasn't impossible like he had previously thought. _

_After all, he was standing and flawlessly riding…_

"_AHHHH!" _

…_and falling into the wave while swallowing salt water. _

_Eyes stinging, lungs burning, and ego bruising; he resurfaced to see her retrieving the board. Trying to wipe the salt/sand mixture from his eyes, which did little for the pain, he stood to wade towards solid land or as Dustin would call it, 'Dirt, sweet dirt!' It wasn't dirt, it was sand and he winced as a shell dug itself into his heel. That was it, he was done. No matter what she said, he was NOT going back to the unpredictable land of water. She might be an angel, the queen of such a place, but it was his hell. _

"_Blake?" Turning with slightly watering eyes to see her with the board under her arm, he couldn't help but smile. Board shorts, a simple top that gave nothing away, and yet she was just perfect. _

_Seeing that she had his attention, Tori then proceeded to ask a dreaded question "Are you going for another round?" He didn't want to answer, but it was required. Please send a monster attack, please send a robbery, for Christ sakes at least send a mugging; SOMETHING to get him out of it. Despite his praying, there was no cry for help or a beep of their morphers from her bag. In that moment, with the sounds of the crashing surf behind him and with her staring at him, he realized that he…was so screwed. _

_He gulped. _

_Was he? No, he was not. Ten tries, ten falls; he was not going through that again. No, he told himself, don't do this to yourself. Just tell her no, that you are going to take a warm shower and then possible lay down for a nice nap. Tell her no, no matter how nice she looks in her suit or how sweet she's being, trying to help you to learn. She was so happy when he tried, when he actually rode the wave for a second. Hell, she didn't even laugh when he fell on his ass. She just helped him up and encouraged him to try again, that he was getting better. Perhaps he should try again, just to see her smile again…NO! NEVER AGAIN, he yelled at himself, NO NO NO! NEVER EVER, NEVER EVER EVER! _

"_Blake, is something wrong?" _

_He took a breath before meeting her gaze "No, I'm just tired" _

"_Then we are done for today" Board in hand, she starting walking towards their things. When she reached her destination, she proceeded to stick the board in the ground. After doing so, she collapsed on the spread out towel to dry out. _

_What? He considered what she just said…no! She would leave, he didn't want that. Walking quickly after her, he considered what he was going to do. Perhaps he could suggest that they just sit here to talk and enjoy the view? That would never work; he was horrible at small talk. Lunch maybe? They had eaten before they came. He was screwed…screwed, so screwed…completely and utterly…_

"_Shit!" Somehow tripping on nothing, well there might have been a hole, he found himself sprawled across something. Wondering what the soft and somewhat wet thing was, he shifted his weight to look up. _

…_in heaven. _

_Blue eyes looked back, her beautiful eyes. _

_All there was the sounds of the sea and their breaths for a moment, one precious moment. Wet, warm skin burned his; he loved it. Wind blew through blond hair, a single strand moving into her eyes. _

_Making sure that he was kept most of his weight off of her, he took one hand and gently brushed the strand away. After it was done, his hand lingered. Her skin was soft, he wondered if her lips…Kissing her, so many times he had wanted too, like now. Smoothly lean down to softly show how much he cared, why he was here. _

_He should, it felt right. _

_So right…_

_But instead he rolled off of her to sit up, mumbling like an idiot "Sorry, I didn't see...stupid hole…didn't mean…" Hunter was going to have a cow if he ever heard about this, telling him that he was an idiot. He should have…_

_But he didn't, he was an idiot. _

_And idiot, an idiot that was completely love drunk off the previous moment; he was satisfied with the small amount of contact. It was enough for him, it was perfect. _

_In his thoughts, he then realized that she hadn't said anything. _

_Oh shit, she wasn't saying __**anything**__. _

_He was so screwed. _

_All the careful planning he had done to protect the crush he had, she was going to reject him. She didn't like him, like he loved her; their relationship would become nonexistent at best. He would have to move away so that he wouldn't have to see the disappointed look on her face whenever they were in the same room. _

_Screwed, screwed…he was so screwed that they should give him the title of…_

"_It's fine; it was an accident after all" _

_With the response, a head leaned on a shoulder; a warm body slightly curled into his. Her head in the crook of his neck, the warm touch bringing so much joy. _

…_the luckiest man on earth. _

_Tilting his head to find the one that haunted his dreams, a smile graced his lips before he turned back to the sea; a symbol of the woman by his side. Shifting her arm to let her closer, her head came to rest slightly on his chest; peaceful bliss filled him. _

_It was perfect, he never wanted to move. _

"_Blake?" His name was softly said, another perfect thing about the moment; his name coming as a sweet sound from her. _

"_Yes?" The word was calm, although he was buzzed at his luck. Any other man might have been swatted for what had just happened, he certainly hoped so, but he had been forgiven and now they were watching the waves together. _

"_What did you think of surfing?" _

_Before he might have lied, but now he would regret it; he wanted to give everything to her, including the truth. _

"_It's not my cup of tea" It wasn't the absolute words I HATE IT but it had the same meaning with a softer way of delivering of what he really thought. _

_She snorted in amusement "You hate it" _

"_How did you guess?" He turned to smirk at her _

_Rolling her eyes before smiling she replied "Your expression a moment ago when I asked you about going another round" _

_Holding his hands in the air in alarm his smile grew even bigger "You got me, I hate it" _

"_Then why did you put up with it and fall all those times? If you would have said something then I would have…" Bringing his arms down to lightly wrap them around her, he cut her off _

"_I didn't want to quit half way through, I was the one that wanted to try surfing; I was going to keep at it until the end" That was partially true, about one percent of the reason; the other part being her. Being around her, to try something she lived for, to show interest in surfing, in her, was the reason he was here. Not that she could know that, maybe someday he would tell her. _

"_You know what this means" He raised an eyebrow _

"_What?" _

"_I have to get on a dirt bike now" _

"_You've already been on one" _

"_Not on the track" _

_Smiling, he knew she was right. _

"_That is going to be interesting"_

"_Why, I fight bad guys all the time on the Tsunami cycle?" _

"_Hunter is going to want to race you" She met his gaze, knowing that he was completely and absolutely correct in that statement. _

"_So is Dustin" She replied_

"_Yeah, but my brother isn't the cleanest racer" That was a lie, but he was teasing. Hunter would never do anything to put Tori in danger, he knew that even if accidentally did; there would be a group of four ninjas that would kick his ass to the moon. _

_There was a slight breeze, she snuggled closer, making his heart soar. _

"_I'm not afraid of him" _

_He chuckled "That's because you can kick his ass" _

"_That's not the reason" Cocking his head to the side in confusion, he wondered what she meant. _

"_What is then?" _

"_I'm not afraid because I know you'll be there" _

_Then she smiled. _

_A small, sweet smile that made him feel all fuzzy inside; the type to brighten your day in a moment's time. _

"_I'll always be there" He softly said back_

_He liked balance, but there was something good about being off for a moment. After spending a day in hell, he had an angel in his arms. No matter what anyone else said, it was worth it; there was no doubt in his mind. _

_The moment, everything was so…_

_It was perfect. _

_

* * *

_

Something was wrong.

Have you ever felt the feeling of emotion hitting you? Those gut feelings, an instinct that warns of some disturbance in the 'force' that resonates within your body. You know, an outside source sending signals in a form of SOS?

She did.

Sadness, pain, and a question of sorts: What the hell?

Perhaps it was something that had come from her time as a ranger, but as she tilted her head to look out the bay window; she knew that something was wrong. The nagging feeling of doom, of sadness, seemed to just make everything else fade. The sounds of the other women fell deaf to her ears; her eyes only saw what existed in the glass.

As she saw her fellow teammates cross the lawn, she knew the feeling wasn't to be mistaken.

She knew, by their faces showing so much without meaning to.

Trent's was emotionless; he was a man on a mission. By the way that he was marching her way, it was most likely to get one, or all, of them. He would go blank during battle, blocking everything else out to focus on the job in front of him. It made him very reliable, because he was focused at all times, although it was hard to talk to him when he was like that. A hard shell enclosed him, to keep everything out. The focus was one of the reasons that conversations during battle usually excluded the white ranger.

Ethan, on the other end of the spectrum, wore an expression of distress and confusion. This worried her even more, what was going on? The blue male made up for any emotions that Trent left out, his kind spirit worrying over everything. She talked to the black male more than the others, due to the fact that he was emotionally understanding. He took in, understood, and put back out things that the others just couldn't.

They were opposites, but both being on the team; the two balanced each other out. When you wanted silent support that was the white's department while a heart to heart talk was more the hacker's style.

A blank slate, a bleeding heart.

That was them, also known as two of her boys; with the third no where in sight.

Her heart sped up, blood pounding in her ears, had something happened to Connor? Mesagog was gone, but…Then she was standing, walking out the door with no recognition of the voices calling her. Meeting the opposites half way, she saw that their faces were drained slightly of color.

"What happened?" Tori beat her to the punch of the question, before her eye caught a spot of red. Seeing the red made her sigh with relief, he was okay. He was okay, she felt much better…she cocked her head, what was that blue? It was Maddie, what was she…

THAT BITCH!

If glares could kill, Maddie would have been ashes.

The explanation of the situation went past her ears as she just stared and glared at the two. The bitch had her hands at his waist, Conner's body, around **her** red's torso. Conner was hers, she had know it a few weeks right after getting their suits; the exact moment after he had stopped calling her babe.

Why? She hissed internally, she had defended the mystic and supported her; why was she trying to take her man? Of course, she thought, things weren't working out with her red so the whore comes to steal hers! The tears had been all a show, her own sister had bought into it, the whore had played them all!

No.

Hell no.

Fuck no.

Kira decided right then that there was no way in fucking hell that the lying bitch was getting away with it; with her Conner. Over her dead body. Her fingernails dug into her palm as she formed two fists.

Blood lust began to fill her veins.

The adrenaline that comes right before a kill, the feeling that shows that there is no fucking way that it will go any other way than your way. The lust for blood, a feeling that every ranger knows, especially ones hell bent on revenge like she was now. The veteran ranger, old man as Conner had once dubbed him (once, right before said red was thrown out of the house onto his ass by the 'old man'), has explained that it was something that came with a situation of great distress and anger. It was definitely the second for her right now.

She took a small step forward, unknown to the others who had already blown past her to the others. No matter what had happened, the bitch was still clutching her Conner. Refusing to let the fuck go, fake tears streaming down her pathetic face.

She was dead.

Trent had once compared her to a lioness, telling her that she sometimes stalked the enemy. The way she defended her territory, her claim on the men, especially Conner. The way she growled when she was about to strike. She had shrugged it all off, not believing a single word, but now she knew it was true. Eyes locked on her target, in the back of her mind she wondered what they might look like.

Later, much later, the others might tell her that they were red with anger. Just red, nothing else, the color of her Conner, of the blood that would be on her hands. Why, they would ask, why did you do it?

"Just defending what's mine" The whispered words slipped out of her mouth, under the breath so that no one heard.

No one noticed her absence, the look of death she had.

She had been forgotten, all the better for the moment.

Growling in anger, her steps became more rapid as she made a direct path towards the target.

The bitch would die.

No one else knew, no one noticed.

No one would, until it was too late.

She would teach the mystic not to mess with her, in the only way she knew how, with her fists.

It would be evil.

Evilly perfect.

* * *

Balance.

Being grounded, he liked that.

Although being unbalanced wasn't bad, especially if he was on a surfboard.

Another thing he liked was ranger powers, after all who wouldn't want to shoot lightning from their fingertips? He always wondered why it was lightning when he was a thunder ninja, but it didn't really matter. It was awesome and the kelzacks did not stand a chance.

Thing was, he did not like other peoples ranger powers, at the moment he hated Dustin.

Not that he didn't like having the ground rock in a menacing manner, throwing him into Cam, having the reds smash into him a moment later; he actually LOVED it. An elbow to the gut on accident, it was fun. The air being forced from his lungs? Even better. He enjoyed being crushed to death by his teammates, who didn't?

He loved it so much, that the moment he got up he would show Dustin how much he cared, by shooting some lightning/thunder at him. It would burn him to a crisp, a beautifully simple way to show him his gratefulness.

"Get off of me!" Growling at the red rangers not allowing him to get up

"Shut the fuck up and give us a second" His brother shot back, the anger in his voice telling the navy ninja that the yellow ranger would get burned to ashes twice

A moment later he was able to get up, dust himself off, and send a glare to the newly arrived dirt boy. Several questions circled his mind as the reds gave the same look as 'you're dead' to their dear old Dustin.

Was he concerned about where Dustin had been? Not at the moment. That had vanished when the power of the earth had been called upon.

Was he going to kill him for showing his powers to the civilians? Maybe. Shane and Hunter would gladly get rid of the three men without incident, well other than a good punch to Nick.

Was he going to kill Dustin for being an ass to Tori? Later. Much later, when he could go evil thunder ninja on his ass.

Was he going to kill him for knocking him on his ass? Yes, right here; right now.

"Owwww" The moaned sound came from behind him, from where he had just gotten up.

Turning to see an 'in pain' Cam, he realized that the green had been on the bottom of the ninja dog pile. Gently helping the tech guru up, the sounds of many joints cracking reached his ears as the samurai straighten to his full height.

"Dude, you okay?" Shane greeted his friend; they all listened for the yellow's condition

"I'm fine, thanks to the cape" Thumbing back at the other yellow wearing male, Dustin smiled his classic smile, which reassured them all.

"That's good, now tell me…" The red air ranger paused, while Nick and Xander stood to stand on their feet "…WHAT THE FUCKING HELL WAS THAT?"

The earth ninja didn't flinch at the volume, having heard it many times before, instead rolling his eyes "I'll explain in a second"

"An explanation would be good" A slightly confused Xander, also blessed with the power of earth, asked

The ninjas, excluding the yellow, glared due to the fact that they hadn't gotten the reason why Dustin had fallen through a fucking tree! The tree faller then walked over to where the red and green mystics were standing. Nick stood his ground, with Xander flanking him, knowing that if anything happened to the man in front of him; the others would attack.

"Name's Dustin, I'm the yellow ninja storm…MMMMMMMMMM!" He was unable to finish the sentence due to Shane's hand being slapped over his mouth while the others dragged him back. The mystics watched the incident, and how it was handled, with interest knowing that such things had happened to their team before.

"Are you out of your god damn mind?" Hunter hissed as the ninjas surrounded their teammate, the one that had about let their secret out.

Yanking his fellow wind's hand off, the earth ninja replied "No, I am not; Chip…"

"Who's Chip?" Blake asked, shooting a look to the three locals

"That'd be me" The lightning mystic had rejoined his comrades, glaring at them for dragging Dustin. His fellow yellow had only been trying to introduce himself to the others, the team had over reacted. Perhaps he could share the connection between him and the other yellow. "Yellow mystic force...MMMMMMMM!" Chip was cut off by Nick silencing him and Xander holding him back from advancing towards the other team.

"Are you fucking mad mate?" The earth mystic muttered in his direction

"When I want to be" Chip chuckled after removing his red's hand

Forcing out of their holds, the two yellows walked to meet each other; their teams trailing behind. Meeting each other's gazes; both put on a faint smile at the existence of another yellow male.

"How are we going to do this?" One asked

"Best if we show them" The other replied

"Here would not be the best place"

"The forest?"

"What the fuck are you two going on about?" Nick really hated being out of the loop

"All will be explained…" Chip soothed his red while directing them towards the 'solid' tree

"…just follow us" Dustin ventured through the wood, although his teammates didn't follow. Sticking his head back through, he tried to think of something that would get them to come through. "It's like the waterfall at ninja ops dudes"

"Waterfall?" Chip questioned, very interested

"I'll explain after the others meet" The dirt boy whispered back, which made the orange haired man nod in understanding.

"Oh" Shane decided that that made more sense.

"Why didn't you just say that before?" Cam, now knowing the facts, went through what he had previously thought to be a regular tree. Not going to let the two out their sights, the other ninjas followed which the mystics right behind.

Coming into the forest, complete with the sometimes creepy surroundings, the older team of rangers were very surprised to see what their friend had fallen into. The yellows once again met between the loose circle formed by their teams.

Smoothly, Dustin lifted his arm and Chip pulled out his 'phone'.

"Ready?" The earth ranger asked

"Always" The lighting bender replied

Before any questions of what the hell they were doing or any actions could be taken to stop them, they began.

"NINJA STORM, RANGER FORM! HA!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"

The glow surrounding them once more, they decided to go full out this time. It was second nature by now, but the rush that came with the call was always refreshing to feel.

"POWER OF EARTH!"

"FAST AS LIGHTNING, YELLOW MYSTIC RANGER!"

A moment later, there were two yellows and six ranger jaws on the ground.

What a perfect way to meet each other, the two thought.

It was a shocking way to show the others.

Perfectly shocking.

* * *

No one had seen the anger.

No one had seen the balled fists.

No one had seen the lioness come out.

Not a soul had noticed…

"Kira" A hand yanked her to the side

…at least that's what she thought.

"What?" She turned to snarl the word in the face of the person who had stopped her conquest for blood…Tori.

"Dustin is a very irresponsible person who is goofy, a risk taker who doesn't always think. I am the exact opposite, a careful, grounded, and responsible person" Tempted to elbow the female in the gut, she wondered…

"Why the fuck are you telling me this?" She didn't want to listen; she wanted to decapitate a specific whore!

"Because Shane is the mix of the two, he's an idiot and he's responsible at the same time; he's also a red. Just like Conner" She still didn't get where this was going. Great, she thought, Tori's gone mad. A rambling water ranger was just what they needed at the moment.

"Great, you have a team of assholes! So what?" A hiss escaped her throat as a warning to let her go or she might just have a clump of blonde hair missing in a moment.

"Red rangers are suppose to be brave, responsible, and most of all; a shoulder to cry on" Looking the ninja straight in the eye, a part of her was wondering if it was actually true. But it didn't matter, that part was being overridden by rage.

Before she could get a word in, the person who had halted her warpath continued "Its part of their job, Shane has been there plenty of times for me and he would have done the same for you if you needed it. Hunter is a bit more distant, but if I needed him; he would be there. The two of them would do it because it comes with the red suit, to be a unmoving rock of strength and support for the team, for any ranger under their care. Just like Conner is now"

"What are you saying?" The new information was slightly confusing; Kira wasn't really sure what to think of it.

"Maddie is not trying to steal Conner away and he is not going for her. He is doing his job as a red, which is to comfort the team" The explanation deflated her anger a bit, but still…

"What about her, why is she glued to his fucking side?" It was true, that even with her sister present, the blue mystic was still handing onto Conner for dear life.

"Who do rangers go to for advice, for conformation that everything is going to be okay in any and every situation?" The question caught her off guard, she knew the answer, but everything was starting to make sense.

"The red of the team" Tori nodded

"From the first day as a team, the rangers look to their leader for guidance and reassurance; the first person she probably thought of was Nick when she saw Conner" Taking a few breaths the death disappeared from her eyes

"But he hurt her, why would she go for the color?" That was a good question; she couldn't wait to hear the answer. Maddie had been scared of Conner to begin with due to the red he represented and wore with pride. When they had gotten to know each other a bit better, the relationship had improved, but she still expressed pain towards the color.

Tori faintly smiled "Because she's in love with him and while the color means pain it also means comfort, to be wrapped in a strong hug by her red ranger"

The pieces all came together "Conner was the next best thing"

"Exactly"

So the bitch wasn't trying to steal her red, she felt horrible for even thinking such a thing. She could have ruined the situation, the shelter that they had tried to build by misunderstanding what she saw. Assumption was a bad thing, she decided.

Thank god for Tori, or else...

"Thanks" She smiled as Tori relinquished the hold on her wrist

"You are welcome, glad you saw the truth" The blue ninja smirked

"You should go into Ranger Psychology" Kira joked, but it was true that Tori knew wayyy more than she did.

"I've thought about getting my masters in it" The water ranger replied in sarcasm

Then there was clapping, the two girls looked to see Ethan, Trent, and Dr. Oliver applauding them.

"Wow" The blue dino gasped

"Point for Tori, the ranger therapist" Trent added

"She's even better than Trini had been" The man that was able to turn invisible muttered to himself, which none of the others heard. [AN: Invisibility is Tommy's Dino gem power, just FYI]

"Where did you learn all that?" Going back to the amazing display of Tori holding back their female teammate, the men leaned in for the answer.

"My previous situation gave me an antiquate opportunity to observe the practices of rangers which led to the knowledge that I have just shared with Kira" The ninja shared this without even batting an eye, the males just raised eyebrows

"Wha?" Conner and his newest accessory (a slightly trembling mystic), came to join the semi circle with the only pink ranger and Hayley right behind.

"I'll say this slowly and clearly for you men…" Clearing her throat, she continued, enunciating the important words "…I have **five men **as teammates, **two **of which **are reds**."

"Well that explains everything" Trent said sarcastically

"I believe we have a new ranger title for you…" Kira ran off

"The water ninja therapist, come see her for all your emotional ranger questions!" Conner boomed, bringing smiles to all the rangers' faces

"I not that good, I just notice things" The slightly flustered blue replied

"Well next time Tommy has a mental breakdown, I'm sending him to you" Hayley smirked, which led the black to retaliate in his normal way, his tone filled with defensiveness.

"I do not have breakdowns!"

"You do too!"

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

While the 'adults', if you could call them that, went back and forth, Conner looked down to the ranger currently snuggled slightly against him. Nick would be jealous if he could see the blue nestled up to him, he thought.

Good.

The bastard should be, even though it was nothing but a comfort thing for Maddie.

Rubbing her back slightly in a circular motion, the trembling in her body diminished slightly. It felt good to help her, maybe Tori was right, that it did come with the suit. It didn't matter if it was true thought, he had comforted her; he was glad to be able to do so.

Thing was…

He eyeballed the phone, forgotten by the others, still open. Her condition had to do with that the device, had she received a call? He was betting so. But from who? He had three guesses, one topping his list.

That bastard better not have talked to her, he growled silently.

He had to know, the curiosity and anger was eating at him. But he still had someone around his waist, what to do? Somehow he found the gaze of Tori, who seemed to get his message of 'Please help me?'

"Maddie, how about we give Conner a second?" The ninja was by his side, cooing at the fellow water bender

At first she squeezed tighter, like there was no way in hell that she was letting go.

"I just need to do one thing" He said, she began to slowly detach

Switching comfort partners, from him to the other female blue, all that remained as a connected was their hands clasped together. He started to move away, she whimpered at the loss of contact.

"I'll be right back" He whispered, squeezing her hand as to promise the statement

Nodding, Maddie buried her head in Tori's shoulder and he was free. Sneaking away, the others didn't notice his exit due to the arguing elders.

"If I have mental breakdowns, it's because of the rangers!"

At the confession, the dino rangers (excluding Conner) responded in irritation "HEY!"

"So you admit that you have breakdowns?"

"Yes! Wait…no, I mean no!"

"You already said yes Tommy"

"Hayley, don't twist my words!"

"I'm not, you said it…not me"

Chuckling at their behavior, he continued towards his goal, all while thinking that they called him the immature one and how wrong they were. Searching the ground he found the morpher phone and held it to his ear for some kind of clue to what had happened.

_To repeat message, press 4 _

She had been listening to a message, from whom he wondered?

_To delete message press 7 _

Like he wanted to do that, pressing the first option, he waited.

_Playing message…_

There was nothing, how the hell did silence upset her? About to disconnect and search the phone for a text message or something, he heard it.

"_Maddie…" _

It was a deep, masculine voice; he knew who it was without asking. The plastic in hand strained as he squeezed it tighter.

Rarely did he, Conner McKnight, get angry; but sometimes…

He saw red.

No one hurt his friends, his fellow rangers; no fucking one!

That was it, he wasn't going to be the comforter anymore; he was going to verbally slaughter someone. A specific someone, a red like himself.

Exiting voicemail, he quickly found the number and slammed the redial button as hard as he could without smashing the phone. That bastard would pay, he would know that if he ever crossed into Reefside that his head would be put on a spike and paraded in the streets. He would know that if he ever came near the girls that he would be beaten until blood oozed out of his body, then he would be thrown into the Pacific Ocean; hopefully the salt would burn. He would be cussed out to the point where if a sailor was present, Conner would be slapped by the seaman.

The bastard would pay.

He. Would. Pay.

_Ring…_

Waiting, he didn't know what he was going to say. He didn't need to; all he needed to say was that he no longer considered the bastard a red. That the color, the pride, was dishonored by him being alive; he wasn't worthy of the suit.

_Ring…_

He was going to say a lot more, about how the girls were perfectly safe. The thought had never crossed his mind before, but perhaps he should offer them a spot on the team. They could stay here, never have to go back. The others would accept them with open arms, they already had! The same offer would be extended to Tori of course, her guys needed to be told off too. That's who he would call next, the ninja assholes.

The plan in place, he heard the phone be answered.

"Maddie?"

Sorry asshole, it's not the girl you aren't worthy of; he began to say this when the phone was snatched away from him with lighting speed. Turning to growl in irritation at who ever had taken it, the reaction was quickly shot down by the person holding the device.

Legs grounded, fingers tapping on the opposite arm; he dared not piss of the person with possession of the phone. Although the anger wasn't directed towards him, he didn't want to tempt fate.

"Hello? Maddie?" He heard the bastard try again, the person smirked evilly

He smiled; the person was going to do a much better job than he would of. And now he could watch it all go down, he only wished he could see the persons face.

To tell Nick to go fuck himself, the person was the perfect person to do it.

"Hi, my name is Tori Hanson; I'm a friend of Maddie's"

She was perfect.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

So will the ninjas and mystics get along when they learn about the other team?

Will Tori tell Nick some very not nice things? I hope so!

Will the ninjas hear Tori's voice?

What will happen if they do?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	17. To want, To need

元金回収-Payback

微笑は、邪悪なにやにや笑い見られる

_Smiles are seen, evil grins _

慈悲のNO、完全な復讐だけ

_Mercy no, only flawless revenge _

女の子者の愚か者どれも

_Girls one, morons none_

私は章に第17歓迎する

**I welcome you to chapter seventeen**

Explanation for what's above: I did it in Japanese, cus I felt like it. For those who don't know, Haikus are set up where each line has a specific number of syllables. The first is 5, the second has 7, and the third has 5 again. Add those up and what do you get? This chapter. I hoped you liked my attempt at poetry.

Hey lawyers! My ownership of Ninjas, Dinos, or Mystics in nonexistence. Are ya happy now?

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

**Hey buddy! You, ya you! **

**You wanna buy a chapter? I got chapters here real cheap! **

**All ya gotta do is gimmie a review and you'll see the chapter soon enough. **

**Get it?**

**Got it?**

**Good. **

ANYWAY, ENJOY!

* * *

Oh shit.

That's what was going through his mind, as everything became crystal clear. As crystal clear as an executioner's blade, sparkling in the sun. His chaotic mind, filled with everything that had gone wrong in the last twenty four hours, froze as his biggest fuck up (well besides the girls' situation), in the form of yellow spandex, raised his head to stare at him.

He had been prepared to yell at Chip, his exact words being 'WHAT THE FUCK?', but that had died in his throat when he had realized that there was a second Chip. Another yellow, in the place where Dustin had just been. Then the truth had hit him, he had attacked another ranger.

Oh fucking shit.

Once a ranger, always a ranger.

That was the code, you didn't break it. But he did, he had broken the most important rule of being a ranger; you respected and supported rangers. It was the law; the only reason that it was broken was if you were evil or brainwashed.

Not only had he attacked a ranger, he had attacked an OLDER ranger. They were the newest team, as far as he knew, and so the yellow had seniority over him. That was like attacking Udonna or Daggeron, older teams have been known to assist, teach the younger teams what they know.

He was so screwed…

He raised his dark head to see that his mistake had just gotten four times worse. Four teens stood behind the new yellow and something stood out that hadn't before. They were color coded; each had a specific color on and nothing else. He would bet his morpher that they were rangers, the rest of the team.

"I think they're in shock" A familiar voice chuckled, in the form of his yellow friend, standing beside the other newly morphed.

"Well they did just find out that we are rangers, it's pretty shocking" Dustin replied

"Should we introduce ourselves?"

"It'd be a good idea"

"You or me first?"

"Me, I want to talk to…"

"My red?"

"Yeah, him"

He dawned on him, as he was listening to their conversation, that they were talking about him. That meant that they were coming his way, he decided that now would be a good time to panic. I mean what else he was going to do; he had attacked a ranger for no good reason! Apologizing would be good, but it was obvious that the guy was going to hate him. This meant that the other team was going to hate him and by judging the other men, the one that had pulled him off of Dustin, the one that was obviously the guy's best friend, was a red. The red ranger of the other team already hated him! He was fucked, no matter what he did.

With this in mind, his eyes went to the ground as the yellows approached. What was he going to do? He wished Maddie was here to apologize for him, after slapping him of course. He would have loved to be slapped by her soft hands; after all she deserved any form of revenge that she saw fit.

"Nick right?"

He internally screamed, he was right there! What was he going to do? No matter what he said, he was completely and utterly screwed.

"… "

Nothing escaped his mouth, he didn't even look up. Maybe, just maybe, if he kept his head down the other team would be merciful. He knew what he would have done if one of his team had been attacked, perhaps they would just snap his neck and be done with it. Death by strangulation was not the way he wanted to go, but by the glares he had been getting earlier it was a decent possibility.

"What's with him?" Dustin sounded confused, which didn't make sense to him. It was obvious that there was a fucking target on his back and that he had just dishonored the spandex he wore, so why had the question even come from the older yellow's mouth?

"He just found out that he attacked you…" The redhead was cut off

"So? We were both mouthing off at that time"

He raised his head a bit, had he heard that correctly? Why in the bloody hell where he belonged was the guy saying that he provoked him? It was bullshit, like Xander had pointed out when his jaw had been attached, he was the one that had taken the one comment seriously and overreacted. Unless the new team knew where the girls were and Dustin felt sorry for him…

"But you're an **older** ranger; it's like attacking an elder; which is dishonorable on so many levels" Chip was correct in his explanation, which again confirmed his horrid mistake.

A thought, a light bulb if you will, appeared in his mind. All ranger teams have female members; perhaps their member knew Maddie and Vida? The thought brought a small smile, there was hope.

But to ask, he would have to meet the other's gaze. It was appropriate to meet one's gaze when having a conversation and anything he did had to be respectful in everyway. Then again, he really didn't have anything else to lose. The girls were gone, he had pissed off a higher ranking ranger, and the other mystics might be better off without him. All he had to do was raise his eyes, but fear coursed through him. It had been a while since he had felt the emotion, the last day it had been hurt and regret, but now he knew, faced with a situation where he was given a fifty-fifty shot of living, that he was good friends with fear.

While he was deciding what to do, the yellows continued their conversation.

"It doesn't matter what happened"

"Yes it does"

"It's the past dude; water under the bridge"

"It matters to him"

"But dude…"

"It does"

"Dude…"

"It does"

Dustin rolled his eyes under the dark shield "Right"

"It. Does."

"Can you say anything other than 'it does'?"

"It fucking matters, does THAT fucking make more sense?"

Chip proceeded to take a breath, the other yellow snorted.

"Never took you as a dirty mouth person"

"Whatever, it matters okay?"

"Fine"

Through his visor, Dustin gave the yellow mystic a look before speaking two words. Chip, seeing what he was doing, joined so that their voices were one once more. They were getting pretty good at the timing thing.

"Power down"

Then, there was a ninja and a mystic.

The dusty yellow hoped that his 'normal' state would be less threatening to the red. He completely understood the turmoil that the fire boy was going through, his reaction would have been the same if the situation had been reversed. But he just had one question. While the others might want to strangle Nick, Shane especially, he just wanted to know why. Rangers were taught to control their emotions, restrain their reactions and channel them in battle. There had to be a reason, even the most hotheaded red would have held back. So, his question was, as he stared at the bowed head of the mystic leader, why.

Why, what was the reason?

"It's been a while since I've met another team; it's an honor to meet you"

Nick couldn't stop himself, snapping his eyes up in shock before sputtering "What?"

Did he seriously just hear that? An honor, what the hell?

Well that worked, the yellow ninja thought.

"You heard me" Dustin sent a smile, which he was infamous for, while not noticing that the others were starting to come out of shock.

"But…but… I…you're a ranger…didn't know…I am such an idiot!" The rambling red smacked his forehead, amusing the two yellows. He moved away, Dustin waited for him to come back around so that he could ask the question.

"Got that right" Xander, finally having his jaw reattached from where he had laid on the forest floor, commented

As Nick continued to mutter to himself, the green ranger decided to introduce himself.

"Xander Bly, green mystic force ranger" Holding out his hand, the ninja shook it. Both felt a rush of energy, but it felt good. Their energies seemed to connect and on some level their souls had a bond.

"Power of Earth?" Dustin smirked

"Yep" The mystic was glad that he had another dirt guy nearby

"Any of them lighting power?" Chip piped up, looking to the other team

Before the lion zord ranger could reply, the relative silence was broken by a specific team of idiots...

"Well that's interesting" Blake mumbled, knowing their chances of asking where Tori was almost zero to none

"Figures" Cam sighed

"Figures what?" Dustin looked back to his teammate, the mystics following his gaze

"It figures that we are in a town for five minutes and you have to get into a fist fight with a ranger team, the red ranger of that team" The techie replied

"My luck isn't that bad" The lion grumbled

"It is when we need to be on good terms with them" The green thumbed towards the mystics

"Why would you…" Xander began to ask, but was cut off

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Both red ninjas roared, while glaring at a mumbling fire boy. Their fury was based on the fact that one of their own, the circle of leaders, had broken the unspoken code. They were supposed to protect, not turn on other teams.

Thankfully for him, Nick did not see their fierce looks of anger as he tried to figure out what the hell he was going to do.

"Drama queens" Dustin snorted, before turning to his new yellow friend

"How about you meet my team first?"

"Works with me" Chip turned to the green ranger "Can you…"

"Get Nick to stop rambling, I'm on it" Xander replied to the unspoken question before going towards the fire boy.

The lion proceeded to lead the remaining mystic towards his team, where Blake and Cam had calmed down and the reds were snarling at the traitorous red.

Dustin noticed this and slapped both of them, the backhanded pimp way.

"Fuck!"

"What the hell?"

That got their attention, his yellow self now being glared at. They would kill the red later, now they were respecting their teammate, just like the bastard didn't!

"Calm down, I want you to meet someone" The four ninjas gave the mystic a look over as Dustin continued. "Dudes, this is Chip"

The yellow, feeling slightly embarrassed under the gaze of the new team, said in a small voice "Nice to meet another team"

The ninja yellow then turned to his counterpart "This is my team, obviously; we have Shane…"

"Red air ranger" The dark skinned airhead filled in, giving a small smile to the new ranger. His leader might be an enemy, but Shane decided that he might like to get to know the yellow a bit better; he reminded him of Dustin in a way.

Hunter smirked "Also known as the airhead of the team…"

The other ninjas snickered, the red glared.

"This is Cam, our tech guru and…"

"Green samurai ranger" The son of a guinea pig stated with a monotone voice. Cam studied the new person, seeing that the person held a light aura around them; which was probably why Dustin had connected with him first, not only because of their color.

"Then we have the Bradley brother Duo, Hunter and Blake"

"Crimson thunder ranger" Hunter smiled, thinking that they were on decent terms with the other team right now, well at least with the yellow.

"Navy thunder ranger" Blake said, hoping to god that the girls would show up soon; because there was no sign of them up to this point and he was getting worried. Tori could have fled already while Chip was stalling.

"Cool to meet you all, sorry about the tree thing" Chip added

"It's cool, we were worried about out little dirt boy that's all" Shane smirked, while this time Dustin glared.

"Do you have any female rangers?"

The six looked to see Xander coming back towards them, without a fire boy in tow.

"Um…" Dustin really wasn't sure how to answer, connecting eyes with Shane for a clue to what he should answer! The ninjas stayed quite, while furiously trying to think of an answer.

Instead of answering, Cam decided to do the exact opposite "Do you?"

"Err…" The awkward silence now came from the mystics, who had no idea in hell how to proceed. Chip and Xander eyed the other, wishing that Nick was here. They needed their fire boy!

Silence enveloped the males, they just stood there.

Looking at the other team and at each other.

Then, once again, the silence was broken.

"Maddie?"

The mystic duo heads whipped towards where the sound was coming so fast that the ninjas for a moment though that they had streaking powers.

"Hello? Maddie?"

The two started walking, more like sprinting, towards the spot of origin of the sound. With curiosity in their minds and the desire not to be left behind, the ninja team followed. Twisting through the brush, they found themselves gluing their eyes to the green and yellow shirts of the other rangers in order not to get lost.

Winding around one last turn, into a clearing with a…dragon head? They found the asshole from earlier, also known as Nick on the phone.

The five outsiders watched as the two mystics surrounded the other, struggling to hear. What was that about? They all wondered….

But then their questions were wiped away, as they stared wide eyed as their bodies moved forward without direction. All it took was a question…

Two words, a name.

"Tori Hanson?"

Dustin found himself streaking towards the red, with eyes only for the phone; she was on the phone. He could tell her that he was sorry, even if she wouldn't listen. So with a dark face rapidly focusing, he found adrenalin pumping through his veins.

He didn't care what his teammates were doing; all he wanted was the device…

As a yellow streak, in the last moment before impact, he felt all the emotions fill him before one overshadowed the others.

Determination.

He would have the phone.

And no one…

No. One.

…was going to stop him.

That's what was going through his head, the only thing going through his head.

One thing, one name, and one person.

"_You are the best friend and little brother…"_

One thought as he launched himself in Nick.

And as they went down, he didn't care about what he had just done.

"TORI!"

The word left his lips as he fought tooth and nail to yank the damn thing from his grip.

All he wanted was the phone.

All he wanted was…

Her.

* * *

"Hi, my name is Tori Hanson; I'm a friend of Maddie's"

As the words left her mouth, she felt a surge of smugness; she needed this.

She had seen Conner sneak off and with regret she had handed off Maddie to her sister. Something had been going on and she had wanted to know. Seeing the red about smash the phone in his hand, she had automatically known what had happened.

Streaking to grab the phone, she silently snarled before speaking the words that she knew would not make sense to him.

They had never met, but they were going to meet now.

"Tori Hanson?"

That's right, she thought, say my name; it'll be echoing with everything else you hear. An evil smirk came to her face as he processed the name, he was going to get a firm talking to.

And when she said firm, she meant the dirtiest cuss out in the history of verbal abuse.

Maddie needed to do this herself, but she was happy to substitute.

Then the sounds of fighting interrupted her train of evil based thoughts, what the fuck? About to yell that question, she heard it.

Conner saw her expression, his eyes clearly saying that he wanted an update.

"What's wrong?" Kira's voice went in her available ear, her concern leaking through

The face of the other's crowded her vision, but all she could hear was the fighting.

That and the one echoing word.

"TORI!"

It was Dustin.

One half of her wanted to hang up the phone and chuck it into the forest before running away, far away.

But the other half was relived. She had wanted, on a very small level, to know that they were okay. If the yellow was there, then the others were, then…

She hadn't wanted to know, she had needed to know.

After all the wanting to kill them, her soul had still yearned to know that her team was safe. That they hadn't done something stupid in response to their hearts being yanked out, well at least that's what she thought, had happened.

It wasn't a want; a need was more like it.

"Who is it?" Conner was asking, although by his glare she knew he already thought he knew.

"Nick…" Maddie hugged tighter to her sister

The small group around her hissed as one at the name.

She shook her head slightly before whispering the name.

"Dustin…"

The hiss turned into a feral growl, while she felt a hand grasp hers.

Kira.

Dropping the plastic into her grasp in a shock induced state; she barely heard what came next. She felt the arms of Ethan and Trent catch her, with Conner right behind.

"Dear any ranger hearing this, this is a fellow ranger and I have one thing to say to you…" The tone was actually pleasant for a moment.

She wanted to hear the yellow cuss them out, to do that she would need to join in.

She needed to hear her guys' voices, to do that she would need to stop Kira.

But in the end…

"GO TO FUCKING HELL YOU BASTARDS AND THIS TIME, FUCKING STAY THERE!"

There was a click, but the tears streaming down her cheeks made it barely heard.

…the want won.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

Will the ninjas and mystics ever get along?

What will the reaction of Kira's statement be?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	18. Truthful Lying

**So, you take…**

3 stooges, the trio of bastardly, moronic ninjas (Shane, Dustin, and Hunter)

+ 1 hotheaded red (the somewhat pathetic Nick)

+ 1 somewhat confused green thumb (The smooth talking, or at least he thinks, Xander)

+ 2 starting to gain some sense yellows (The sweet duo of Dustin and Chip)

+ 1 slightly desperate thunder ninja (The shortest ninja, Blake)

+ 1 irritable, non cybernetic samurai ranger (The human counterpart, and creator, of cyber cam)

+ 2 somewhat amused, somewhat angry witches (The white snow ranger and the gatekeeper, who are to watch the testosterone filled battle begin)

+ 1 knight, trying to keep order and the teams from killed each other (Daggeron)

+ 1 fiery redhead, with an anthill ready for use (Cyber Café is her turf, don't mess with her)

+ 3 musketeers, aka a James Bond security detail (The respectful, non idiotic dinos)

+ 1 lioness, claws ready to blind specific bastards (GO KIRA, TELL THE GUYS WHO'S BOSS!)

+ 2 elemental bitches, who won't hold back (Twins + Mystic powers = awesome)

+ 1 lone ranger, ready to lead an attack (Boiling Waves aka a very angry water ranger)

+ 1 multicolored veteran, who's trying to kept from someone getting buried…not alive anyway (Tommy, nothing more needs to be said)

**Then you have…**

21 humans, ranging from geniuses to mystic/ninja morons

- 1 lion zord rider (Dustin's not that special, besides we only need one dumbass earth ninja)

- 1 pathetic fire boy (Needs to man up, seriously he's being a fucking pussy)

- 1 Tommy (He's not open to slaughtering the guys like everyone else, but I think that that will change soon)

* * *

**Equaling in a complete, and hilarious, total of…**

~ Chapter Eighteen, ya'll ready for this? ~

* * *

Hey lawyers! My ownership of Ninjas, Dinos, or Mystics in nonexistence. Are ya happy now?

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

**Hey buddy! You, ya you! **

**You wanna buy a chapter? I got chapters here real cheap! **

**All ya gotta do is gimmie a review and you'll see the chapter soon enough. **

**Get it?**

**Got it?**

**Good. **

ANN: In the first scene, the **BOLD** is an overview; a poetic and simple telling of what is going on. Details will be in between them, but the **BOLD LINES** go together.

HERE WE GOOOO, ENJOY!

* * *

**Silence reigned supreme as the words echoed. **

They had been fighting, wrestling for control with rangers of the opposite team.

None of the men were still standing; each was in the dirt battling another.

Backing up their specific comrades, the mystics had fought to not let Nick be double teamed, even if they were; the ninjas followed Dustin's example, taking the enemy down to the ground pinning them.

The reds went after Chip, who to his credit still fought them valiantly despite their strength being superior to his own. Xander was taken by the tag team of Blake and Cam, who did it smoothly and quickly.

**Actions ceased, mouths closed. **

They had been cursing up a storm, anything and everything being said.

The composure of the forest had been overridden with their voices.

Two takedowns, two very different ways of doing it.

The green and navy version was silent, while the mystic green was yelling on the way to the ground. The competitive red way, the takers were snarling in anger that the bastards know where Tori is and didn't tell them with Chip being in shock. Other than a startled reaction, the fire boy didn't say a word and neither did the yellow; he was too focused.

**Only heard was the breath of eight. **

Panting to catch their breath, they focused only on…

**As the gazes narrowed on the device, time froze. **

"GO TO FUCKING HELL YOU BASTARDS AND THIS TIME, FUCKING STAY THERE!"

All they could do was stare, who said…why would someone?

The same thing was echoing in all eight minds, along with one question.

**Confusion was thick upon them, no one understood. **

"What the…" A wide eyed Nick breathed the question that was on their minds

It wasn't Maddie, he knew that much; she would never have yelled at someone like that.

Nor was it Vida, although she was capable and more than willing to call him a bastard.

And it wasn't the Tori girl; the voice was different…who?

**One yellow, in a similar state of fighting as his ninja brothers, was tangled with a red in an attempt to reach the origin of the yell. **

Glaring at the phone where it had fallen, a specific dirt boy wiggled slightly. The red he was in a pile of limbs with quickly understood and loosened the grip that Dustin had been fighting a moment before.

Reaching for the phone, he knew that someone was still on the line. It wasn't Tori, although the voice seemed so familiar, but the blue ninja was there. Somewhere on the other side, maybe she would hear him.

'Tori, I'm so sorry; go ahead and hate me but just know I miss you…sister' that's what he would say; it was short and to the point. After the sleepless night and hell of a day, he wished he could hear her voice.

"_Dustin…" _

But he wouldn't, perhaps his voice would be through.

There was no guarantee, but he had to try.

Almost there…

**Then, a click. **

"No…" He whispered, the mystery caller, Tori was gone.

After everything, their chance was gone.

"Damn it!" Shane growled, slamming his fist against the disturbed earth

No…he felt sadness welling up.

He couldn't tell her, not now.

**No use, nothing left. **

She was gone; their first real lead was gone.

Everything…vanished.

**Mystery turned to anger.**

"Who is Tori Hanson?" Ninja eyes narrowed on Nick

"Like you don't know" Blake hissed, knowing the truth

The red knew exactly who she was and where she was! Why else would she call his phone, he was just playing them! First he attacked Dustin and now he, and his team, was lying to their faces!

That bullshit wasn't going to be taken anymore.

**Breaths turned to growls. **

"He doesn't know her" Xander snapped back with a tint of aggression, as the respective sides began to detangle themselves and stand.

While he didn't particularly like the red, his red, at the moment; he didn't really like the threatening tone that was being used towards his leader. It was actually pissing him off; no one treated his teammate like scum except for him!

"That's bullshit, where is she?" Shane shot back, dusting off his now dirt covered shirt while glaring at Nick.

The fallen eight were now on their feet, falling into their normal patterns with teammates flanking them.

"We don't fucking know her, get that through your thick skulls!" The fire mystic replied with a tint of aggression

At the moment, he could give a fuck about guilt. About Dustin, beating him up; he really didn't care. Right now, he needed to focus. But he really didn't need to.

A red ranger mentality kicked in, the especially territorially part.

A snarl escaped his throat; he wasn't going to take this.

He didn't give a fuck that it was another, older, ranger team; they were on his turf. They had come and started accusing him of knowing something, with no right to do so. Then their yellow had fucking tackled him, the others had attacked his team. No one attacked his teammates, no matter what was going on. He was supposed to lead, he had let that responsibility go and that was foolish of him. But better now than never, he was back. The one they needed, whether they wanted to admit it or not, was standing tall. He knew one thing to be certain…

They weren't going to get away with this.

Not while he was here.

"BULLSHIT!" Hunter boomed, giving a very evil look to each and everyone of them

**In the dirt, the device laid, forgotten. **

Watching a stance of anger come upon the opposing red, Dustin knew this wasn't going to be easy. But he didn't care, they knew something.

"Where the fuck is she? TELL US!" His voice roared over the land as his elemental power coursed through his veins.

She was here somewhere; he would just have to tear up the land.

The three knew something, something they were not telling them.

"Where are your female rangers, probably with her, isn't that right?" Cam hissed with the tone of deathly cold, bringing up a very good point.

They had yet to see the girls of the mystics, who meant the guys, were just covering for them. Tori could be running again, with the men being the first line of defense. It was plausible and more than likely true.

"No, they aren't" Xander glared with death in his eyes.

If they brought the girls into this, they would die.

"Maybe their scared?" Blake smirked evilly

"Don't you fucking dare say anything about Vida and Maddie!" Chip snarled, his teammates growls synchronizing with his own.

"Just tell us where Tori is and we will go away!" Shane offered, knowing that it was true

All they wanted was their missing piece, and then they wouldn't ever come back on the other teams turf ever again.

"FOR THE LAST TIME…." Xander began to yell in irritation when Nick gave a signal for him to be silent. Obeying his red, with a bit of bitterness, he fell silent.

"Who is she? Perhaps we have seen her and we are willing to help…" Both the yellow and green mystics growled with the unspoken saying of 'Fuck no we will not help them!' before the red continued "But we have not see or heard of anyone by that name" Trying to play it cool when he wanted rip their heads off for being assholes, Nick kept his tone calm and collected.

The ninja team stayed silent, although their blood was boiling. He must be a good actor, for all the shit he was saying; it seems partially honest. But he was lying, he was.

"So, who is she; who is Tori Hanson?"

**As hell, a chaos erupted. **

By no accident, they all responded at once.

"She's the blue water ninja"

"She's the kickass female of our team"

"She's the sweetest girl ever and the best surfer in Blue Bay"

"She's my sister"

"She's my best friend"

"What?" Chip sputtered, the team was looking for their missing member; this explained the anger. If it was vice versa, they…he, would be doing the same thing.

But why were they asking where she was, they had already to them that she wasn't here. What would…they thought they were lying! Oh shit, he groaned, this was bad.

He had to tell the others, before…

"She's our teammate" Dustin said softly

"Sorry…" Nick said in, what the other mystics recognized as his seriously empathy filled voice, a shocked tone "…but we haven't seen her"

"YOU'RE FULL OF SHIT!" One voice on the other team roared

It was too late he realized.

**Silence was nonexistent.**

Their reactions, both teams, were simultaneous.

Different reasons, the same result.

"NINJA STORM, RANGER FORM! HA!"

"POWER OF AIR!"

"POWER OF EARTH!"

In offense, for the truth.

"THUNDER STORM, RANGER FORM! HA!"

"POWER OF THUNDER!"

In anger, for the lies to be gone.

"SAMUARI STORM, RANGER FORM! HA!"

"GREEN SAMUARI POWER!"

In support, in search of the facts.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"

"FEARSOME AS FIRE! RED MYSTIC RANGER!"

In defense, in protection of their turf.

"STRONG AS A TREE! GREEN MYSTIC RANGER!"

In fury, in being accused.

"FAST AS LIGHTNING! YELLOW MYSTIC RANGER!"

In regret, he knew the truth.

The colored faced each other, for one last try…

"Last chance, tell us where she is" A wind ranger said, his hand on his sword, ready to pull it out.

There was a moment that they waited for a answer.

"Now" A crimson ninja had his thunder staff already out, ready to beat the information out of them

**Nothing existed, not fact nor fiction.**

"Dustin, can we just talk for a moment?" A yellow mystic pleaded in a way, wanting to end the fight before it started. His personal crossbow was already out and ready, but he didn't want to use it. Xander's axe was glinting in the light, begging for action as the green ranger was.

"Unless you are going to tell me where she is, then dude, we can't" The other yellow shook his head, he really liked Chip; but she was more important.

"But…"

"I have to see her and tell her…I'm sorry about the timing but…"

"I understand"

"What?"

"Whatever is going on, you'll find her; but she is not here" From behind his visor, Chip wished that he could take the yellow on a personal tour of Rootcore to show his that there was no female ranger (except for Uddona) here, but that wasn't going to happen.

"I can't believe that"

"Trust me; I swear on the morphing grid that I'm not lying"

"I can't"

"We can avoid fighting, just trust me"

"I can't"

"Why, because I'm on another team or because you are so fucking centered on her that you can't see the truth when it hits you!"

Raising his visor to glare at the yellow, Dustin proceeded to growl his answer "It's my fault that she is gone, my fault that her heart is broken, and MY FUCKING FAULT THAT OUT TEAM IS BROKEN! I ruined everything…so if I am blind with sorrow, then I will be that way until I find her and tell her that I am so sorry..."

The visor slid back down as the last words sounded.

"…and that's a promise that I will take to my grave if I have to."

"Well then I'm sorry that we have to be on opposite sides"

That's what left the redhead's mouth as the other side charged.

He had tried to stop it, but…

His bow rose to fire a shot, towards the one he had saved earlier; his own color.

**Pain existed, only pain. **

…nothing had stopped the battle.

Nothing had turned the lies to truth.

* * *

The phone was clutched in her hand, she handed it back to it's rightful owner.

Satisfaction.

Evil satisfaction.

Wonderfully evil satisfaction.

It had just come out; no planning had gone into it.

Then, there was applause.

And whistling, the boys and Hayley cheering her on.

"ENCORE, ENCORE!"

"Give them more!"

"Nice!"

Her arms were smashed against herself, warm bodies snuggling against her.

"Thank you" Three voices, the rangers, whispered as they hugged her with all their might.

Nothing had gone into it and everything had been gained.

She represented good.

She represented her sisters in crime fighting.

She had represented their pain.

For the first time during the day, she had done all three…

…and it felt good.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

CLIFFEE! I know I'm evil...

Will the teams kill each other?

Will the truth come out?

Will the girls throw a party in honor of Kira?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	19. Uneasy Armistice

Its number nineteen…wooohoo?

God, that sucked.

I'm not that happy today, so no peppy entrance for this chapter. Sorry if the following notes seem kind of dull and/or depressed and/or sounding that I'm feeling quite aggravated today.

Really? Do you have to ask? Uggghhhh…fine. I don't own the fucking teams; does that get rid of any ideas that I was ACTUALLY making money off of this? Get your fucking head checked if you think I do, cus you're delusional!

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

**VERY IMPORTANT**: In the second section, there are the mystic force villains. If you are not familiar with mystic force, I suggest you quickly jump over to Wikipedia and read the villains section. It will help you understand it better. Or you could just be ignorant and go right ahead and read it. Whatever. FYI, all details, like the spells, are correct…don't guess you care about that though. And yes, Koragg is still evil and Imperious is still alive…

**Hey buddy! You, ya you! **

**You wanna buy a chapter? I got chapters here real cheap! **

**All ya gotta do is gimmie a review and you'll see the chapter soon enough. **

**Get it?**

**Got it?**

**Good. **

ANN: Actually, not only am I NOT happy; I'm in a very foul mood. You'll see this in the chapter, where there might be more moodiness than necessary and more cursing than usual…well that might not be possible, and you'll see it below in the next author's note.

ANNN: We last left our heroes…err morons, going to battle with each other. Seriously, what is their fucking problem? Hopefully someone will smack them upside the head; I wish I could, maybe the evil vampire queen could bitch slap them…that could actually work. Anyway, despite the fact that Chip didn't want to; he's fighting Dustin. I get the whole, try to not hurt the yellow thing, but dude just defend yourself already! God, it doesn't matter if he's yellow, black, or purple; just fucking shoot him! Nick and Xander are enjoying the battle despite the fact that they are out fucking numbered 3:5 but it seems like they are being blissfully unaware of that fact, either that or they have finally lost their fucking sanity; like they had any to begin with…another thing, we have yet to see the other members of the mystics, but who knows, the guys have been acting like assholes (Nick) so they might not be in the assisting mood. Hell, they could be watching with popcorn in Rootcore while laughing at the sight of their rangers getting their asses whipped. Or they could be in shock, more than likely it's the first. Back to the fight of egomaniacs, one team is going to lose…my money (or lack of it) is on the mystics crying like pussies with the ninjas grinning evilly when the dust settles. But who knows? Oh right, I do!

With the first (and hopefully last) ranting of last chapter recap done with, here's the next installment.

ENJJJJOOOOYYYY!

* * *

"Stupid kids"

The grumbled words came from his mouth as he exited the stone dragon's mouth. His entrance to the field wasn't seen by the other rangers due to their focus on killing each other. Sticking to the outside of the field to avoid being hit by a sword, staff, or weapon of sort; he found that the two teams were doing well against the other.

Having seen the mutant attack on the crystal ball, Uddona, himself, and Clare had watched the interaction between the teams before it had appeared right outside the window.

Right now, as he dodged the skilled attacks being thrown; he was not in the best mood. [AN: Just like me!]

Actually, he was pissed.

Why were both teams being so fucking clueless, it was irritating him beyond belief, but could they just talk about it? The obvious answer coming off the testosterone fight was no.

His elder eyes were trained on one ranger in particular, one who was battling two ninjas at the same time. He was going to kill Nick; the idiot should have kept his anger in check. After all the lessons, you would think that the red would know when to go the peaceful way. You would think, but then again…you can't cure stupidity. In the back of his mind, he was somewhat proud that the red was taking on the other team's leaders without taking too much damage. The two were in sync, one striking while the other blocked and he knew if the fight went on for too long that Nick would lose, but he was holding his own for now.

Yellow blurs caught his eye, as Chip held back again from striking the other suit, blocking just in time before taking a step back. The two were evenly matched, but hurt and pain seemed to radiate off one, clouding his judgment.

Then there was Xander, who was going at it silently with…navy? He was sure he had seen another green ranger; one which he would have assumed would be fighting with the loudmouth. Doing a quick headcount of unfamiliar spandex, he found that there were only five. Where the hell had the other ranger gone?

"God, we are idiots"

Looking up into a nearby limb, he found a fully morphed green with eyes glued to the battle field. The muttered words came with a shake of the head, dissatisfaction in the air around the ranger. At least somebody finally got it, which made his attitude a bit brighter.

"Yes you are" He said aloud alerting the other to his presence

A look from a dark visor, then their eyes were back on the battlefield, regarding the other in an 'I'm not you're friend, but I won't kill you' look. Other than their teammates, they didn't automatically want to kill other people.

"Aren't you supposed to be out there?" The question had been bothering him, with the greens help the game could be over faster with them as the victors. Besides, teams supported each other when they went into battle, which the boy was doing the exact opposite.

"I'm a pacifist, I'll get involved if it turns bad for us" Very good answer, he decided, as he leaned against a tree.

"You're doing nothing then?"

"NO!" The other ranger snapped before returning to is calm state "I am just…"

"You're considering the facts" The person looked down to catch his gaze before the visor lifted, two dark eyes coming through. Thin glasses covered the orbs, who analyzed him, wondering most likely if he was a threat.

"Yes, I am considering if they were telling the truth"

"They are"

He was met with a glare "How would you know?"

"Because there hasn't been a female ranger around here for the whole day"

The gaze from the other softened "What about their female rangers, Maddie and Vida are their names correct?"

"_Don't tell him shit, he doesn't need to know!" _

"_Vida!" _

"_Four eyes can ask our names if he wants to know" _

"_Don't be mean!" _

"_Besides, if he wants to know anything about you, he's gonna have to get through me!" _

"_Overprotective bitch…" _

"_What was that?" _

"_Nothing sister dear" _

He smiled softly at their voices before replying "Yes, they're gone"

The leaves above his head rustled before two feet hit the ground "What do you mean?"

"The team had a fight and the two ran away, what more do you need to know?" He snapped back in a bit of aggression that he hadn't been able to do anything to keep the team together, that it had all led to this.

"Oh…" The green sighed

Seeing that his anger had gotten the best of him, he held out a hand "Daggeron, Solaris Knight"

The other shook his invitation before replying "Cam, green samurai ranger"

Hands falling to their sides, he said "Want to end this so we can get all the facts straight?"

"Yes" The visor fell, showing that the ranger was ready for it all to end.

Shoulder to shoulder, they entered the battle.

He was ready for this to end.

For all the facts, all the cards, to be on the table.

Maybe then, the younger generation would get it.

Maybe then, they wouldn't be such idiots.

But the odds weren't in their favor…

…as they usually were.

* * *

The nameless _Styxoid_ scurried into the hole in the ground that he called home, the darkness soothing him as his fellow minions greeted him. Ignoring them, with the thought of the new team in mind, he soon found himself in the main area of the underworld.

"What a great plan that was" The mummified, supposed second in command, Imperious sarcastically spewed in the person's face who had proposed the most recent attack on the rangers. The monster had died, grown, and then died again with the rangers victorious once again.

"You come up with something better!" The female queen of the vampires hissed, her teeth just aching to tear out the asshole's throat. But the master favored him, so doing so was off limits. When the chance arose though, she had first dibs on killing him.

"Idiots" A dark grumble came from the corner of the room, where a proud purple knight was scowling (behind his visor) at the morons he was forced to work with. Necrolai he could deal with, but he loathed the one known formally as Calidor. The bastard lacked loyalty, which was taken very seriously by him; the monster would have already been destroyed but the master commanded him to let him live…although it was just a matter of time.

"Um…" He really wasn't sure to get their attention, if he spoke too loud then they might just kill him, it had happened before, but he had to tell them… If the new ranger team could be taken over and turned to the glorious side of evil, then their victory was assured. But first he had to get the three's attention, no matter how much he was afraid of them.

"I'll send you then; maybe they'll destroy you too!" The once good, turned evil male sneered as she growled in irritation.

"I'll go, I am not afraid of them; unlike yourself!" She snarled back, one more comment like that and the bastard was going down. Screw what the big red guy, the master, she couldn't stand him!

"Listen here, queen of the bitches, I will…"

"SILENCE! WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP?" Koragg boomed, a moment of silence finally coming over the room, irritation finally gotten to him. If he could have had headaches, he would have taken a whole bottle of aspirin by now.

Thinking that now could be his only chance, the small (in proportion to them) minion slinked carefully from his place at the edge of the room towards the most honorable of the three. If he was killed for his words at least the knight wouldn't torture him, just snapping his neck or something like that. "Sir?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" The black skinned flyer asked, her dark eyes narrowed on the newly acquired prey. She could use a snack…

"I…I…" The stuttered words came with his body turning to jelly; these were the master's most fearsome warriors! The ones that could kill him without lifting a finger, what was he suppose to say?

"What a surprise…" The mummy crept closer with a evil smirk "…what a wonderful, unfortunate in your case, surprise" Oh, he was going to die. The thought made his shake even more; he was going to join the others that had been destroyed. Not that he was leaving anything behind, but he didn't want to go yet!

"Imperious" A voice warned and with a scowl the male moved aside to show the wolf warrior "What is it minion?" Have to make this fast, the knight didn't look too happy.

"Uh…most honorable Koragg, I have interesting news" Trying not to hyperventilate as three pairs of evil orbs were on him, he continued "My unit and I attack the yellow mystic ranger…"

"And were unsuccessful in destroying or capturing him" She muttered under her breath "We really need to train the minions better"

"Like your training would help"

"Imperious!" The purple warrior growled before turning back to him "And?"

"…but it wasn't" He squeaked, hoping that they would believe him; but why would they? He was just a lowly minion.

"Did he have a yellow suit?" He nodded to the mummy's question "Then it was the yellow mystic ranger!"

"But…" Not that they would listen…

"You idiot, you interrupt us for that, minions are even more idiotic than I fucking thought!" She yelled

"But the yellow ranger came in a moment later!" His exclaimed words echoed

"There were two yellow rangers?" Necrolai asked, her hands already rubbing evilly together. Oh this was interesting…

He nodded.

"Are you sure?" The deep voice of the knight asked

"I saw it with my own eyes" He nodded, wondering if they knew what this meant

"Another ranger, another team" The queen said, knowing that the colored enemies traveled in packs

"More powerful minions" The mummy smirked, glad that he didn't kill the minion like he had planned on doing before.

"KORAGG!" Their master's voice echoed the room as the red light filled the room

"Yes, Master" Bowing, the honorable villain waited to hear his orders.

"SEEK OUT THIS NEW TEAM AND OBSERVE THEM"

"To find out their weaknesses" The bastard in the room mumbled

"Or why they are here" The only female suggested

"As you command"

With that, the evil presence in the room dropped and the purple male rose to his full, menacing height. Satisfied that is job was done, the nameless minion retreated into the safety of the darkness and he was soon forgotten.

"Try not to get killed out there" Necrolai said as the knight prepared to leave

"I think he should" The other male muttered

Ignoring the statement, a armored hand outstretched.

"UTHE SASTOS!"

A seal formed under his feet and as the darkness vanished, the light of the surface work beginning to shine, he was glad to leave. Trees of the upper world surrounding him, he knew what his mission was.

Moving through the forest at a fast but silent pace, he soon heard the sounds of clashing steels. Rangers fighting rangers, perhaps he did not need to learn anything about them, they were already on the side of evil.

But he would stay to observe anyway.

Perhaps the blood of the rangers would be spilled or maybe their zords would be called.

So much to learn, so little…well actually he had time.

Watching the battle from a distance, he wondered about the new team.

All questions would be answered in time, they always were.

He just had to wait, something he was very good at.

All would be revealed and he would be here to see.

* * *

"WHERE IS SHE?"

The questioned echoed from all sides, he had quit trying to tell the truth a long time ago, instead just focusing on the battle. Avoidance was his game right now as he found that he was unable to land a hit. The two in front of him were used to working together; it was obvious as their attacks seemed to protect as well as strike out.

A staff came to hit him and as he dodged before moving his sword to hit the side of the darker red, it was blocked by the sword of the other ninja. Neither left the other open, which was irritating him just a little bit…okay, it pissed him off a lot.

Taking a step back, he positioned his blade as they rushed forward. Metal clashing, he wondered when this was going to end. There was not a Tori Hanson here; they didn't even know the name, what was going to happen when one side was injured or worse?

Sneaking a fast look at his teammates, he found that they were holding their ground. This news soothed him a bit, as a slice to the shoulder threw him to the ground. Getting up as fast as he could, it ached as he defended a bit slower than before.

Then a flash of something caught his eye.

He had no idea what it was before he was blocked from his defending, by a larger man.

"Enough of this, demorph now"

It was Daggeron, nice time he sarcastically thought.

"What if we refuse old man?" The crimson suit hissed

His suit vanished just in time for him to see the elder's eyes narrow.

"Bad idea mate" Xander, in his human self, whistled

Beside him was Chip, who was avoiding eye contact with Dustin. The other yellow was flanked by the navy and green rangers, which answered his question of where the hell the glasses dude had gone. But when the fighting had started, he hadn't noticed, he had been too busy with red one and two.

"Call me old man again and I will personally feed you to the dragon!" The golden knight snapped while glaring, he was touchy about his age even though he was still young.

"Like you have a…" A roar interrupted Shane's sentence as a big red dragon appeared overhead before disappearing into the tree line.

"You were saying?" He smirked

The two reds exchanged glances before powering down.

"Dude, that's awesome!" The earth ninja exclaimed, thinking of how he would have to ask Chip about riding him…oh right, he wasn't talking to the yellow now.

"His name is Fire Heart" Chip beamed before his face fell, he hadn't been able to convince Dustin…their relationship wasn't the best right now.

"Now, how about we go inside and figure this all out?" Cam suggested, like the two had decided beforehand

"Like hell" Nick growled, he did not want them here!

"What would Maddie and Vida want?" Xander asked, knowing that if they could figured this whole mess out then maybe all would be better. It was a long shot, but what the hell did they have to lose?

"Vida…" The air ranger echoed

This gained the mystics' attention "Do you know her?"

"She's the one that called Tori's phone, she said the was from here and so that's why we came here" Shane replied, telling the whole truth

"At least you have a reason for coming" Chip joked, any news of Vida making him feel much better

"Like we need one, we just attack other ranger teams all the time" Blake said sarcastically

"Sorry about that, we seriously thought she was here" Dustin rubbed the back of his neck, hoping to god that the other team, Chip, didn't hate him.

"Apology accepted, won't you come inside?" A new, more feminine voice answered

Natural blonde hair greeted them as well as a sweet smile, for the ninjas it was the first female face they had seen since Tori had ran…Just a female presence soothed their souls for a moment, although it did more for one of them.

Her eyes went wide for a moment as two tanned arms wrapped around her. Shaggy brown hair got into its owner's eyes as he squeezed with so much love.

Mystic jaws on the ground at the act, the ninjas quickly went to pull him off of the strange girl. They had just made an uneasy peace with the other team and he was going to fuck it up!

"DUSTIN!"

But then they were waved off, by her.

Returning the hug, a moment later the dirt boy released his hold. Returning to his position with the others, he smiled at her until…

"OW!"

…Shane smacked him upside the head.

"What were you thinking?" The red hissed

"Dude, I need my hugs and since Tori's…I'm sorry" Hanging his head in shame, he directed the last part towards her.

But then she giggled.

"Clare?" Nick asked in shock

"You should have just asked, I would have been happy too give you one!"

"You would?" Xander sputtered, she had never given them hugs, what was so special about him?

Moving a piece of hair from her eyes, she replied "Of course, besides you're face looks better with a smile instead of a frown"

Dustin smiled, as did his fellow yellow, both knowing that the kind spirit of the woman was happy to do anything to brighten their day.

"Udonaa wishes to meet you all, please follow me"

Then she continued into the stone entrance, the others slowly following.

Each eyed the other team suspiciously; a truce has been silently called.

It was an uneasy one, but it was all they had…

…until more was known.

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Reviews? Please!

What will Udonna say?

Will the truce last?

And what will Koragg do?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	20. EXTRA: NINJA STORM

So...this is not a chapter, sorry to the people who rushed to read it thinking it was, although I love the loyalty to the story!

In my procrastination of typing the next chapter, I made this. Think of this as a commercial break, with a wacky and stupid commercial.

A list of Nonos for Ninja storm, I will more than likely put one for Dinos/Mystics later.

So the next chapter is being worked on, this is just a Random Bonus thing...

Enjoy ;P !

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**THE NONOS FOR NINJA STORM! **

**

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**

1. Do not call the green ranger 'Security Man Cam', even if it rhymes or it's true.

2. Don't call yellow the awesomest color ever when Dustin is nearby, even if it is, because he will never shut up about it.

3. No running around Ninja Ops yelling "SPIDER CAM, SPIDER CAM; DOES WHATEVER A SPIDER CAM DOES!" Especially when the green dude is there and never when the others are there to laugh at him.

4. Never lock Blake and Tori in a closet, not even if the two really need to suck face or that they're driving everybody crazy with their 'lovey dovey' eyes.

5. Do not give sugar to Dustin, ever. Results will be a yellow madman, laughing manically, running around with five ninjas trying to catch him while failing miserably to do so.

6. You really shouldn't film the chaos above and sell it to pay-per-view. Especially not under the title 'One Monkey vs. Five Ninja', people might actually buy it.

7. Do not handcuff Shane and Hunter together at the ankle with plastic cuffs and laugh hysterically when they try to do anything and then fail epically. Also, do not film it and show all their ninja students.

8. Nor should you blackmail them into dressing in drag with said film. And do not film it and repeat the process.

9. Never lock Shane in a box of fake spiders and tell him that they are real.

10. Do not take Dustin on the Drop Zone ride at the carnival nor should you take him bungee jumping.

11. No selling Marah and Capri to a freak show, even if they belong there.

12. Do not put glitter paint all over Lothor's face when he's sleeping. Especially do not put hearts and peace signs.

13. And don't blame Zurgane when he wakes up. Nor should you watch the firework that comes from said general being blown up.

14. Never paint the zords tie-dye with big smiley faces on them.

15. You really shouldn't switch morphers around to where any of the guys end up with a skirt when they morph.

16. Do not give Tori cooking oil instead of surfboard wax.

17. Don't give Cam a pet, especially not a dog that barks at night. Or every moment of the day.

18. Never mistake Blake for Hunter and vice versa before giving the excuse that they're brothers and they look so much alike it's hard to tell which is which. Especially with a straight face.

19. Don't hide all the chocolate, tampons, or Advil when it's the blue ranger's 'time of the month'.

20. And don't not sit with a bowl of popcorn to watch her yell at the guys. Nor should you clap and yell 'ENCORE!' when she punches them.21.

21. Never deflate motocross bike tires, ever.

22. Never replace skateboard wheels with donuts.

23. Nor should you ever dye ninja uniforms pink.

24. Plus, don't replace shampoo with pink hair dye.

25. Do not dye Sensei pink.

26. Just don't use pink dye anywhere. Ever.

27. Never replace morphers with plastic toy versions.

28. And don't laugh when they try to use them.

29. Do not paint the van green and call it the mystery machine. And never call Shane Fred 1 and Hunter Fred 2, or call Dustin Shaggy, or call Cam Velma, or call Tori Daphne, and do not call Blake Scooby.

30. Don't demand for Blake to yell at the top of his lungs "ROOBY ROOBY ROO!" [Translation: SCOOBY DOOBY DOO!]

31. Do not bet Dustin five bucks that he can't go a day without saying dude.

32. Do not bet Shane five bucks that he can't spend a day working his brother's job.

33. Do not bet Hunter five bucks that he can't work as a telephone operator for a day.

34. Do not bet Blake five bucks that he can't go the entire day saying a cuss word in every sentence.

35. Do not bet Cam five bucks that he can't stay away from the computer for one day.

36. Do not bet Tori five bucks that she can't stay away from the water for a day.

37. Do not watch said ranger struggle before collapsing with a brain aneurism due to the bet.

38. Do not ask Shane or Hunter which color is cooler, especially when they are in the same room.

39. And do not, to add fuel to the fire, ask them which one is a better leader.

40. Do not create cyber ninjas. Ever.

41. Do not program cyber Hunter to speak German and dress like he's gay, nor should you program cyber Shane to speak Chinese and dress punk, nor should you program cyber Dustin to speak Spanish and dress like he's Goth, nor should you program cyber Blake to speak French and dress like he's mentally retarded [Mismatched], nor should you program cyber Cam to speak Irish and dress…like he used too.

42. And don't tell them to try and talk to cyber Tori, at the same time, for her to watch them model their new outfits. Chaos will happen, trust me.

43. And do not put the real ninjas in the same room when this is happening so that you can laugh hysterically at their expressions.

44. Do not order playboy magazines in one of the guys' names to Storm Chargers.

45. And don't make sure that Kelly/Tori is the one that signs for it.

46. Ditto for Tori and playgirl.

47. Do not let any of the guys sign for it, especially when they are all there and Tori's not. You know that they'll open it.

48. Do not buy a tarantula and let it go to slowly crawl about Ninja Ops after you cut the power.

49. Do not take the wheels off the van and replace them with inner tubes.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL:

50. Do not make a list of things not to do to the ninja storm crew.

That just pisses them off.

* * *

Eh...whatcha think?

Next chapter's coming, promise!


	21. Connecting the dots

Number 20, double double digits baby!

Ninjas, mystics, nor dinos are mine! You hear me!

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: **HIYA!** So there's this poll on my profile, but it's special…why? It asks you to fill in the blank. Here it is, **The Ninjas/Mystics are…** Trust me when a say that there are many different options to choose from to answer that prompt, but just to see what ya'll think as a whole…it's a poll!

**Hey buddy! You, ya you! **

**You wanna buy a chapter? I got chapters here real cheap! **

**All ya gotta do is gimmie a review and you'll see the chapter soon enough. **

**Get it?**

**Got it?**

**Good. **

**

* * *

**

_Ahhhh…_

_Another day, of complete and utter dysfunctional chaos. _

_The daily fight of Vida v. Xander had already ended with the pink victorious as usual; the subject matter of the fight was unknown to him and the others, although they really hadn't needed to know when they had pulled the wind mystic off of the green ranger. _

_They had already fought, massacred, completely destroyed a legion of the Master's pitiful minions and the monster that had come with it, just in time for lunch. After a brief discussion, yelling match, they had decided what to get. _

_It was classic take out meal, pizza, but of course with a mystic twist. Two extra large pizzas divided with different toppings, of course by color. He had pepperoni, Chip with pineapple, Xander had green peppers, and the girls combined theirs to be a red onions, ham, and olives smorgasbord. There wasn't a blue item for Maddie to use, but she hadn't really minded; her twin's items suited her just fine. _

_Finally after Xander, who had drawn the short straw, had gotten back, lunch had begun. _

_Munching on third piece, he found it strange that the two females were huddled around the only computer in the shop. Excitement was in the air, whispers flowing in the air; it perked is curiosity. _

"_Whatcha guys looking at?" But the green ranger beat him to it, but he was going to get his answer. He joined Chip and the loudmouth at the main counter as they waited for a reply. _

"_Did you know that there are other ranger teams?" Maddie finally answers in her sweet shy voice that makes a faint smile come to his lips. _

"_Yeah, why?" His voice turns slightly husky, not that he cares; but for some reason it seemed to catch her attention. _

"_Well…" Their eyes lock for a moment, the blue's voice runs off _

"…_it turns out that some teams team-up with other teams to kick ass" Vida swoops in, big sister to the rescue, to save the sentence. Her dark eyes break their gaze, something he wished would never happen. _

"_Huh" Xander shrugs, not really interested in the new information _

"_I wonder if we'll ever meet another team" Chip says, before his eyes focus into space so he can muse the idea _

"_Who knows, it possible" He adds, although he doesn't really care what the others think. She's trying to push the blush from her cheeks, succeeding only minimally. The faint smile grows a small bit; he wishes she would look back this way. _

"_Nick would probably clash with the other rangers" The pink fairy points out, his eyes narrowed on him. _

_He gets along just fine with Vida and vice versa, but when she found out that he liked her little sister; she turned into the evil bitch from hell. Any time she could piss him off, she would, just to warn him that breaking anything, including her sister's heart, would result in an ass kicking of a lifetime. He knew that she could and definitely would; there was a reason that her being the pink ranger was the biggest oxymoron in the history of fuck ups. Pink was a girly color, one that usually involved the girl liking: shopping, makeup, and all the female crap like that. Vida one the other hand hated all of that, choosing jeans to skirts and actually liked good music instead of boy band crap. _

_So in essence, the anti-girly pink ranger was going to tattoo a warning to his forehead if given the chance and she was going to kick his ass if Maddie scrapped her knee when she was with him. _

_Other than that small detail, they got along just fine. _

"_I would not" His stated sentence led to her rolling her eyes. _

_Not unless they tried to order him around, he did not take orders well. Hell, he clashed with Daggeron more than once a week (more like once a day) and the only reason that he didn't do the same with the former white ranger was because he did not want to disrespect an elder lady. That and he didn't want to get turned into a toad. _

_And if they invaded his turf, they would have a problem. Maybe it was just the territorial nature that came with the red suit, but just the idea of other rangers on his turf pissed him off. _

"_Not to the females anyway, probably just the other red" Chip, back from his semi-daydream, commented _

_Another red, that would be interesting. He didn't really the idea of having to collaborate with another man; it would probably end with him yelling at the guy. He wasn't a hothead; it was just that other egomaniacs (like himself) pissed him off. That was one of the reasons he had fought with Xander before, the dude had an ego on him and they clashed because his was just as big, if not bigger. _

"_Probably be at each others throats" Xander confirmed his own suspicions of what might happen _

"_No he wouldn't…" The blue piped up before looking to him "Right?" _

_He faintly smiled; she was always sticking up for him, even if she didn't do the same for herself. _

"_Of course, I would only hit him…" His explanation was cut off by the angel's devil of a sister _

"_Or she" He snorted, as the other men did _

"_V, I highly doubt…" Chip began _

"_There could be now or there could be one in the near future" The black haired, with a strip of pink, ranger snapped _

"_You're right, it is possible" The yellow agreed, although he always did with the elder twin; there was a hunch that something was going on between the two, mum was the word on that though. _

"_As I was saying…" He looked back to finished his answer, two eyes looking nervously at him. "…I would only fight them if they were threatening the team" _

"_What?" She sputtered, which did not go unnoticed by the others. _

_Then there was snickering from the others, probably at the supposed 'lovey-dovey' act as they called them, act that he was putting on. _

"_Ow!" Cue Xander getting smacked by Vida _

"_V!" Chip got more of a love tap, although it more than likely still hurt. _

"_If, for example, the team was evil…" His answer was once again cut off _

"_It's usually one or two rangers, not usually a whole team" Vida added, her steady fingers on the keyboard telling them that she was investigating this as they spoke._

"…_and they tried to hurt any of you…" _

"_The rest of us would kick their asses!" Xander proclaimed while he grumbled. _

_Stupid interrupting teammates. _

"_You would?" Maddie asked, seeming unconvinced _

"_Oh course!" Vida yelled, which the others echoed _

"_Especially if it was Vida or you, you're the sweetest things we have on the team; well you are anyway…" He smirked at Vida who looked like she was going to kill him. _

_The blue's cheeks flushed bright red; he could hear the snickers of the others, but he really didn't give a fuck. _

"_Besides, you're the baby of the team; it's my job to protect you" Appearing from behind the computer, the elder sister wrapped the blue in a hug that he envied. Being so close to the person who was his elemental opposite, and seemed to be attitude, opposite was something that he sometimes wondered would feel so good. _

"_I am not!" The smaller muttered _

"_Yes you are" Xander chuckled _

"_You calling my sister a baby?" A growled sentence puts the earthy color on edge _

_Rule one about the sisters: If Vida calls her sister something, that doesn't mean you can. _

"_Uh…yes?" Wrong answer, a snarling pink dashed after a green that was running for his life. _

_And so started round two of Vida v. Xander…_

"_Oh snap" Chip chuckled before realizing that he was the one that needed to make sure that his pink didn't completely maim the loud mouth. "Crap" Running after them, they watched the yellow disappear until they were the only ones in the store. _

"_SHIT!" _

"_YOU BASTARD!" _

"_Don't kill him V!" _

_Well you could still hear things being broken and punches being thrown, but the room was empty other than themselves. _

"_Nick?" A sweet, soft way of saying his name; he love it. _

_Turning from his place where he had been watching the others speed off, he came face to face with her. Something that he was fine with, he could feel the fading waves of heat coming off of her. "Yes?" _

"_I don't want you, or the others, to fight other rangers because of me" What was she saying, that she wanted them to stand by while something happened to her? Oh hell no. Over his dead, fucking stone cold, body. _

"_Maddie…" The name easily rolled off his tongue, something that he had been doing since he met her. He almost never raised his voice, unless something was going on with her. Smooth, soft, strict if needed; but he never yelled at her. He couldn't, would never be able, to bring himself to do so. _

"_Will you keep them, and yourself, in line if we do meet another team?" What a question…_

_He paused, wondering how he should answer before finally thinking of his answer. "No, because you'll be there to do that" _

_That brought a smile, soft and shy, just like everything else about her. "Well what if I'm not there?" _

"_Why wouldn't you be?" He shot back, although the idea of Maddie not being there frankly frightened him. He wasn't sure he could deal with any of his teammates being gone, especially her. _

"_Maybe I'll be looking for a magical scroll or something, I don't know, I'm just trying to plan" She rambled a bit, which he didn't mind at all. _

"_Wouldn't we all be magical scroll hunting together though?" He smirked _

"_Nick!" She rolled her eyes _

"_Yes?" She put up with her smartassyness pretty well, better than Vida did. _

_Sighing before focusing again on him "I'm serious…" _

"_So am I" _

_One thin eyebrow raised "Right" _

"_Can't you tell?" _

_A snort from her before it turned serious again"…will you hold back if another team arrives and I'm not here?" _

"_Of course" It was the truth; he would try his best not to punch another ranger; even if they pissed him off. _

"_Pinkie promise?" A slender finger was held out to him _

"_Really Maddie?" He eyed the offering _

"_Yes, really" he wondered if the skin was as soft as it looked_

_Looping his own smallest finger with hers, he found that it wasn't soft. Instead it was smooth, slightly cooler compared to his own dark skin. They stayed like that for a moment, which he loved every moment. _

"_Promise" He said, their eyes connected _

_Silence. _

_He wondered if her lips were soft or if they were just smooth like silk instead. _

_Were they? _

_The answer evaded him as other voices came through the quiet. _

"_I SAID I WAS SORRY!" _

"_YOU ARE DEAD GREENY!" _

"_VIDA!" _

_She sighed, as did he, their fingers detaching. _

"_Should we go assist Chip?" He asked_

"_Well we are a team…" She replied before they dashed off_

_He followed her lead as they followed the musical carnage to the main fight, but he didn't mind. _

_All he knew was that, she was here. _

_Which was all that mattered…_

_Coming to a sight of a yellow body desperately trying to hold the fiery pink one back brought a smile to his face. _

_Normal chaos, nothing more. _

…_nothing else, just her. _

_

* * *

_

To ask or not to ask?

That was the question on Conner McKnight's mind.

A slight chill crept across skin, something that would have been an annoyance if he had been paying attention. But instead of doing his self assigned task, he just stared. The frosted glass fogged up with every breath, the contents vanishing from view as his eyes stared off into space.

It had been bothering him for a while, figures that his brain picked now to go into a brainstorm session. How he should ask was something that was in his way, although it wasn't the problem. The root of the reason of why he was staring through the glass at a half gallon of pet chocolate ice cream in the center of a Ingles aisle was that he wondered if he should ask the girls…

"Stupid, stupid" He muttered to himself, they would never go for it.

They were strong, independent females that did not need what he was thinking about offering. It would be awkward if he did ask…'Thanks for offering though!' That's what they would say, well perhaps except for Vida who might just be insulted. He didn't know the pink that well, although her sister seemed just fine with him at the moment.

But on the other hand, maybe with everything that had happened; it would take a great deal of stress off their shoulders. Knowing that they had people around them that would actually SUPPORT them and CARE about them. Not DESERT or FORGET about them and never ever HURT them.

Two fists tightened; how he wanted to hit the bastards…

Just five minutes with each, hell, bring them all on!

Pushing the anger from his veins, he focused on the question at hand.

To ask them or not to ask them?

Simple, it was.

But asking them if…

"Conner?"

For a moment he ignored the voice; or voices since there were two people in the glass reflection, instead bringing his head forward to hit the door to cold treats.

Oww…well that wasn't smart, he grumbled to himself.

But the cold was seeping into his skin, the ache faded.

"What are you doing?" Turning this time to actually face his teammates, more like piles of junk food, he answered even though his brain demanded that he answered the question imposed earlier.

"Thinking" Classic cop out on his part, but he really didn't care.

"Well that's not good sign" Trent chuckled, juggling two liters of soda in one hand and three giant bags of chips in the other, with salsa in each crook of the arm.

His eyebrows scrunched a bit, but only to show that he was fake pouting. So his IQ wasn't off the scale, but they loved to mess with him about it.

"May we ask what about fearless leader?" The black teen added, moving his own arm loads of salad, apples, pie crusts, Reeses, and other assorted items around to avoid arm ache and dropping the things.

"Can we get a buggy first?" It was a disaster in the making; they would drop something sooner or later. Grabbing two containers of iced cream and the cake from where he had set the plastic container on the floor, a deserted buggy came into view right on the next aisle.

Gently, but quickly piling their crap into it, he took the helm of the metal beast and started piloting it towards any random place so that they were not blocking traffic. Then he turned back to his first and second mates.

"What else did we need to get?" They had been sent to the store, their offer being revoked by the fury filled pink, to gather supplies for a celebration. The cause being that Kira, their yellow, had told off the assholes. It had been a wonderful moment and the mystic demanded that it deserved a party in result. They couldn't help but agree, so here they were.

"I think we got everything…Ethan did you get the cookie mix?" The white changed his mind half way through, snapping to get the right affect in his mind.

Maddie had suggested that they could make cookies in the shape of little men and then eat the heads off of them, evil smiles of approval had been the result and the three of them had promised to personally make sure they did not leave the store without it.

"Five packs" Was the quickly delivered answer, which was much more than they needed…although you could never have too many bastard cookies to smash.

"Frosting?" Trent further questioned

You needed to be able to draw the little faces of terror too, the ones they would have if their heads were about to be eaten. No icing would just ruin the idea all together.

"Which shade would ya like?" Ethan smirked while holding the frosting aisle spread out in both hands.

"Red food coloring?" You needed fake blood for the wounds that would come from ripping a limb off before decapitation.

"Yep" Cue there being three packs of the stuff, the massacre could begin.

"Nice" He couldn't help but comment, he let the two go get their stuff and boy did they deliver.

"Thank you, thank you very much" The blue faked a deep voice, which sent them into snickers.

Then they each ran over their mental check lists, while looking in the buggy.

Chips? Check.

Dip? Check.

Everything for bastard cookies? Check.

Cake? Check.

Ice-cream? Check.

Soda? Check.

The list went on and on.

Then they came to the same conclusion.

"We're good"

Maybe now he could figure out what the answer to his own question would be so that he would be prepared to ask them another. There were so many good things that could come from asking, but so many horrible things as well…

"So what were you thinking about?" Ethan asked as they started letting the checkout guy do his job. Slowly the bags started filling up so he started loading them into the buggy with the blue's help as Trent manned the place where he would pay.

Here goes nothing…

"Asking the girls if they wanted to join the team" His movements never faltered, although the others' slowed just a tad.

Stupid, he grumbled at himself, they didn't like the idea either.

"I know it's a stupid idea, but…" He was cut off

"It's not stupid" The blue ranger said forcefully

"It's brilliant" Trent explained "I've been thinking of offering them a place at my dad's for them to stay long term, but that would be much better"

"That's what I was thinking too, except that with them being part of the team then they would know what it was like to have actually teammates ya know?" He ground out the last part, hoping that he could have a rematch of him v. Shane very soon, he would smash the other's face in and that was a fact.

"I'm all for it" Ethan quipped with obvious excitement in his voice, the idea of having two blues joining the team bringing a smile to his face.

"Same here" The white on the other hand, was interested in the pink ranger. She seemed fierce, but he wondered if underneath she had a softer quality, kind of like Kira.

But to the two, it was clear that they would accept all three of the girls with open arms with no second thoughts.

"That's good, now how to ask them?" He mused aloud

"Do you want to become part of the team? That's all you have to say" The blue rolled his eyes at the thought that he was being a drama queen about the whole situation.

"Yeah I know, but…"

"But nothing" Trent swiped his dad's credit card, which he was allowed to use for specific purchases, important ones mainly. Not that any of them could think of a more important purchase, maybe except for shotguns to use for ranger target practice. "Besides we'll be there if you freeze up"

"I won't freeze up!" At least he hoped not.

Pushing the buggy towards the borrowed jeep, Dr. O had been in a good enough mood to let them borrow it which had never happened before, they were there before one of the two added to the statement.

"We know" They were both rolling their eyes at him; well they could go to hell.

"I'll ask them the moment we get back!" He declared, not to be thought of as a wimp.

"Okay then, we'll hold you to it"

Satisfied with his victory, he was soon seated in the driver's seat with everything loaded in. And as he backed out, he realized what he had said he was going to do…

It hit him.

"Oh shit"

* * *

Silence reigned supreme as one team stared at another.

Jaws on the floor, eyes wide, blank expressions.

"Wait, wait, wait…you're telling me that…" Xander blabbered before running off

"You too?" Chip finally said

"Us what?" Dustin asked, slightly confused

Interesting enough, the elder team had just finished explaining that the reason why they were hear was why their teammate was not to be seen at the moment. This caused the reaction of the three mystics to stare blankly at the others.

"You're female ranger ran away too?" Nick rephrased

Now it was the others' turns to be shocked as Shane ran off "You're female rangers…"

All three nodded sadly, which gained a small amount of sympathy from the elder team. They weren't sure what had happened, but it couldn't be worth the pain that they were going through.

"Dude, that's why, at that comment…" The yellow earth ranger pointed in understanding at the other red

"Yeah, sorry about that" The fire boy shifted awkwardly on his feet

"No dude, I am so sorry, I would have done the same!" Dustin felt the eyes of his fellow ninja on his person asking what the hell this was about, but he wasn't about to explain it to them at the moment.

"At least we got that out of the way" The green mystic smirked

Meeting the red's gaze, the ninja smiled, telling the other that they were squared away with no hard feelings, the other did the same.

"Do we even want to know what you guys did?" Hunter asked, slightly curious if it was worse than his own heartlessness

"Nope, same for you guys?" Nick replied

"Yep" Shane stated

"Good" A voice echoed as the person descended into the main area where they were, a smiling Clare right behind her "Now, is there any way we can help you?"

The elder team made eye contact with each other, silently deciding upon an idea. The strategy had been used only for battle, but they had grown so used to it that it came naturally after so much time as a team.

The red air ranger reached into his pocket, flipping open her cell phone a moment later. Scrolling through the pictures, he finally found a good one.

"Maybe you can, have you seen her?" Reluctantly he handed the phone to them, although he watched for any sign that they would drop it. Then he would slide to catch it, something that was hers. Something precious.

The three huddled around the small screen.

Wow, was the thought that went through the three's mind.

The small photo was of all of the guys in front of them, all sporting smiles. It was a bit blurry, but in the center of them all was a stunning blonde. She was grinning widely as the rest pressed closely around her. Some of them were cut out some, an ear here, part of a head there, but none of them cared as the moment was obviously a happy one.

"Is that the one that Sensei took?" Blake asked softly

"Yep, I still wonder why he didn't get his little paws in lenses" The skateboarder chuckled, which caused a few laughs from the others.

"Still a good picture though…SHIT!" Dustin jumped as a giant cat appeared; the yellow taking refuge behind Shane, who made a wall with Hunter to subconsciously protect the others.

"Hi?" The huge feline asked, confused to why he was being glared at

The two reds proceeded to drop into defensive positions out of habit.

"Easy, that's Jenji" Daggeron said, while glaring at his partner

This did little to loosen their protective shield.

"He wouldn't hurt a fly, he's actually really sweet" Clare added, seeing their hesitation.

With the testimony of a female on the cat's side, the two rose to their true height.

"Dude, you scared the crap out of me!" The yellow sighed, leaning on the air ranger

"Sorry, but I was curious about the new team" The nonhuman showed a toothy grin

"Well here we are" Cam stated

"Ta-da" Hunter said sarcastically

Then the light hearted mood was crushed by the results of the earlier question.

"No, we haven't" Nick said, the others' faces falling as he handed it back

Trying to avoid seeing the happy picture, the air boy quickly closed it before tucking back into his pocket.

"Then I apologize for the trouble we caused, is there anything we can do before we go?" The official leader of the team, although Hunter had frequently said otherwise, said quietly

Repeating the process that the other red just had, Nick handed his morpher over to the other team.

The two sisters were grinning madly while having a arm over the other's shoulder in front of the shop. A peace sign wielding Chip was in the background, as was a reading Xander, it was one of his favorites.

"No, I'm sorry" The crimson murmured, speaking as the other red handed the phone back over

"But you spoke to Vida?" Chip asked, eyes only for Shane

The air nodded, knowing that it was giving the other comfort. "She sounded well, but not exactly happy" Shane wondered if that made sense

Obviously it did, because the natives to Briarwood smiled, especially the yellow.

There was silence for a moment.

"We'll be leaving then, thank you for your understanding" In a sign of respect, the team bowed as they would to their fellow ninja.

"May I ask a question first?" The cat asked

"Sure" Dustin replied, what did they have to lose? They had already lost the most important thing, her.

The question was considered for a moment before being asked "Is it true that your headquarters is behind a waterfall?"

This floored them, while the mystics reacted…

"What kind of a question is that?" Xander was tempted to smack the cat upside the head, but the gold knight would be mad at him.

"A good one" The feline snapped back

"How do you know that?" Blake asked, knowing that one of them would have had to tell him that

"Vida and Maddie took me to meet these two girls, one told me that her teams HQ was behind a waterfall, I wondered if it was true" The very tall house pet replied

"Did she have blonde hair?" Dustin asked

"Blue eyes?" Shane added

"About ye tall?" Hunter held his hand inches below his height

"Loves the color blue?" Blake piped up

"Did she love water?" Cam finished the questions

"Yes, her name was Tori, she was really sweet talking about her team" This brought smiles to their faces, which soon fell, if only it was that was now.

"So Tori knows your rangers and they know her" The glasses wearing green started to connect the dots

"They are together, question is where" Uddonna pointed out

"Looks like we'll be working together, you good with that?" Shane held out a hand

" Yes I am" Nick shook it, whatever it took to find Maddie

"You said two girls…one was Tori…" Chip mused

"They could be with the other one" Xander stated the obvious

"But who is she?"

The question echoed a specific yellow's brain as did the somewhat familiar voice_. _

_"Dear any ranger hearing this, this is a fellow ranger and I have one thing to say to you…"_

A fellow ranger…female, who did they know?

_"GO TO FUCKING HELL YOU BASTARDS AND THIS TIME, FUCKING STAY THERE!"_

Then it all clicked.

"Her…" He said in a trance like state

The fierceness, who would Tori go too?

It made sense…

"Dustin?" Shane leaned closer in concern

The others expressed the same; his wide eyed look didn't go over well with them.

But it didn't matter, he had a name.

He knew who she was.

And he knew where Tori was.

"Kira…"

* * *

Reviews? Please!

What will happen next with the guys?

Will Conner actually ask them?

And will the girls accept?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	22. Picking a side

~NUMBER 21~

*Happy Dance!*

21st is my birthday, not of this month but it's the day!

WOOP!

Ninjas, mystics, nor dinos belong to me!

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: **HIYA!** So there's this poll on my profile, but it's special…why? It asks you to fill in the blank. Here it is, **The Ninjas/Mystics are…** Trust me when a say that there are many different options to choose from to answer that prompt, but just to see what ya'll think as a whole…it's a poll! Like for example of the choices for fill in is **Are idiots**. So the whole sentence would be **The ninjas/mystics are idiots**. Isn't that the truth? But there are many more just like it, I will show the results on here SO GO VOTE!

ANNN: I. AM. SO. SORRY! Everything is so crazy, I am so sorry for this late update. I have been thinking about the story nonstop and I just haven't time to type it! Sorry!

**Hey buddy! You, ya you! **

**You wanna buy a chapter? I got chapters here real cheap! **

**All ya gotta do is gimmie a review and you'll see the chapter soon enough. **

**Get it?**

**Got it?**

**Good. **

As always, I hope and know that you ENJOY!

* * *

_What was taking them? _

_Tapping her fingers against her leg, she shifted her eyes from the clock to the back of a head of dark hair. Listening to the sounds of the keys, she wondered where the four were. _

_Sighing, another second passed when no footsteps were on the steps. _

"_They probably got distracted by the toy section" She smirked at his comment, as the typing ceased and two glasses covered eyes glanced in her direction. _

"_They are a bit immature" A small chuckle from Cam showed that he agreed. Moving a blonde hair from her eyes; she said the comment while in all seriousness she was getting a bit worried. _

_Sure, Lothor was being quiet, like he had been over the last week. But it seemed like whenever than happened, that the bastard would pop back up when they least expected it. Like the time his goons had showed up at the movie theater _

_Not that the guys couldn't take care of themselves, they were damn good ninjas, but still…Maybe it was just something that came with being the only girl, her mothering instinct kicking in. The same worry had come up when it was just Shane, Dustin, and her; so maybe it was the solo girl thing. _

_It took what, five minutes to drive to the store? Then you have an hour max to buy all the crap, with the five minutes to drive back. The whole trip shouldn't take more than an hour to an hour and a half. _

_And yet it was approaching the two hour mark with no word from them. _

_They were only buying frozen pizzas and ice cream for god's sake! _

_Irritation mixed with worry as another minute of tick-tock went by; a small grumble exited her mouth. _

"_There are no monster attacks in the area" A once again turned Cam stated, obviously in an attempt to calm her nerves, which worked. So the four hadn't gotten into battle, which helped a little. _

"_Nor are there any reports of fighting or gang disturbances…" She rolled her eyes _

"_Cam, really?" A faint smile appeared on his lips as he turned to give her a look that said…_

"_What? Anything could happen with those four" It was true, although she wished it wasn't. _

"_I'm hurt Cam" A fake sniffle was heard, coming from Dustin. _

"_Yeah, is that how you feel?" In a somewhat somber tone the navy ninja said, who like the others was weighted down with multiple bags. _

"_Well you guys aren't exactly mature" She mock defended the green ranger as she rose to help lift their loads into the kitchen. _

"_Us not mature?" The older Bradley said in shock, a smile on his face as he gave her the frozen disks of cheese and meat. _

"_I'm insulted" Shane grumbled in a fake pout, arms crossed as he sank into a chair at the table _

"_Aw, someone's got their feelings hurt" The yellow earth ranger snickered as he set three pizzas in the oven that she had preheated way ahead of time. _

"_But seriously, what took you guys so long?" Leaning against the counter after everything had been put away, she watched the others take a seat_

"_We were only gone…" Blake looked for a clock _

"_For two hours" She replied with a 'as a matter of a fact' voice _

_Snapping out of the 'sad' mode, the air ranger replied with a bit of defensiveness in his voice "We were on schedule to only be gone an hour until some idiot caused a pile up!" _

"_You were stuck in traffic for an hour?" Cam asked with ridicule in his voice_

"_More like forty five minutes" Hunter replied before taking a swig of water _

"_The other fifteen went towards playing rock paper scissors for which ice cream to get" Shane answered the question of where the time went before it was even asked _

"_AND I FUCKING WON!" Dustin yelled, they all rolled their eyes _

"_Rocky road rules the day" The crimson muttered _

_They all chuckled for a moment until she walked over to Shane and without warning punched him in the arm. _

"_What the hell?" He eyed her suspiciously, trying to figure out what he did _

"_I gave you a specific time frame" The others' raised eyebrows at her words _

"_And?" She sighed, after this long you would think the airhead would know what she was talking about. _

"_You should have called or at least beeped me…" Tilting her wrist to give the skateboarder a good look at her morpher "… I was getting worried" _

"_Sorry, it skipped my mind" Finally it dawned on him, as it did the others _

"_It's our fault too, it wasn't just the airhead's" That was Hunter, an apology with a taunt at Shane, just a normal day. _

"_You didn't need to worry" Dustin pointed out, she glared _

"_I do with Lothor and his goons roaming around" She shot back, how could they think that? _

"_We can take care of anything that bastard sends" Blake waved the concern off _

"_There certainly are enough of us" The samurai stated to support his ranger brethren _

"_But I'm still going to worry, you are my friends and it would kill me if anything happened to you guys" _

_They all stared at her before a yellow streak dove to wrap around her. _

_And then before she was squeezed by five sets of arms she heard the two words that she dreaded, when Dustin was covered in mud, and loved, every other moment. _

"_Group hug!" _

* * *

The tree grew quiet, as it usually did in times of shock.

Then laughter erupted.

"You're off your nut dude, the dinos wouldn't…" Hunter chuckled

The two teams were decently close, there was no way that Conner or one of the others wouldn't contact them if sobbing Tori showed up on their doorstep. It was like an unspoken thing between the guys of any team, any ranger guy anyway. The girls might hide whatever what was going on, but despite the fact that it might be stupid to tell the other team what was going on, you could count on the other team to tell. Because they knew what reaction they would have to the situation, the worry. And that was why it had been known the moment they had met the dinos. A glance exchanged between the leaders that had said that they agreed.

An unspoken rule, any information about the teammates was shared.

"Yes they would!" Dustin snapped in response, before continuing "You know that Kira has the others wrapped around her finger almost tightly as Tori…" He hesitated, wondering whether to make it present or past tense.

The first would be false, but the last would be giving up hope on his part. It's better to lie than to lose hope he decided. He wasn't even sure that he could abandon hope like that. He was always the optimistic one; after all he represented the color of the shining sun. Even if he wasn't the happiest camper, old habits die hard, even if they holding hope that should had been burned long ago.

"…has us. If Kira showed up crying and Tori told us to not tell the dinos, you know we would zip our fucking mouths and throw away the key"

Well the rule was there, except if you had someone come in a break the rule into a thousand pieces and overrule the code.

It wasn't something that you could explain, it was just the fact that the female (or females) of the team overruled everything. Pacts, rules, codes, whatever the hell was set in stone with the guys; the feminine devil brought a jackhammer.

Enter Kira.

The yellow was a perfect example of a one woman wrecking crew. Just as Tori was, the two were notoriously known for rolling with the punches and dishing them right back out. This was one of the reasons that they did well surrounded by male teammates where others couldn't, well perhaps that should be past tense for half of that argument.

Broken, a small part of him doubted that Tori would ever reclaim the courage to face them. He wasn't sure he would be able to do so…

Finally, it seemed that his very rational thinking had registered as truth.

Two and Two plus Kira had finally come together in their minds to equal…

"Shit"

Cue Shane rubbing his temples

It had sent them all to the same page, the same thought.

She would be on a warpath, Blake swallowed hard.

They were so screwed.

Not that they hadn't been the moment after the crime had been committed, or when Tori had found out, but this was a whole new level of screwed.

"Unfortunately, you're right" Cam groaned

The unspoken question now was, were they still going to go after her? Yes they still wanted Tori, to apologize and all that shit, but Kira was going to murder them.

Actually, no, not murder.

Decimate would be more precise.

She was more than capable of it and she would decimate them.

In. To. The. Ground.

"I doubt ashes will be left" Hunter grumbled to go along with the thoughts going through all their minds.

"Who's Kira?" Nick piped up

The natives of the tree, all seven of them, had been listening since the name had come from the elder yellow's mouth. Since they knew that the key to finding Maddie and Vida was finding this Tori girl, it occurred to them that Kira, who ever she was, might be the person that could lead them to the blue and pink. In essence, they had seen the grief come to the elder team's faces, which cause curiosity to rise up in them.

"A female yellow" Dustin answered, wincing in knowing the pain that would rain down on them if they crossed in Reefside.

"She was the one who..." Xander ran off

"Yes" The green samurai nodded

"I guess that there are two things we know about her" The fire boy muttered

"What's that?" Shane asked, wondering what you could get from that angry rant other that fire and brimstone would rain down when the two sides met.

"She knows where all three girls are" Daggeron filled in, to the annoyance of Nick, having heard the roared words from inside the tree.

"It's the first place we should have looked" Blake felt like smacking himself for not thinking of that earlier.

"Oh well, we didn't, at least we know now" Cam tried to reassure although they all probably felt as stupid as Hunter on a really dense day. And that was saying something.

"And?" All eyes went to the younger team

"And she knows all" The cryptic sentence didn't need any explanation; the tainted imaginations of the men went wild.

There was no way that the girls hadn't told her, a zero chance in hell.

"Just because Kira says no, that doesn't mean that Conner or the others wouldn't tell if we asked" Cam threw out, which got him the attention of all

"True, they might not know the whole story" Blake agreed, although it was a stretch. The loyalty between any team, including the dinos, was strong; this meant that the male rangers wouldn't be quick to disobey their female members.

"But even if we get into Reefside, Kira…" The elder Bradley left the rest of the sentence open to the painful imagination.

"Then we'll just have to avoid her" Chip stated, showing that he wasn't going to back down from finding Vida, never.

"It won't be easy" Dustin added, knowing the risks

"But we can do it" The air red said, they had been in worse situations before

"Can't be too hard" Nick replied, both teams smiling by this time

But there was a person fuming in the room, seeing red, at their cockiness.

How dare they? The thought was growled in her mind.

She had seen the pain in the act the mystics had performed, heard it in Maddie's voice, did they ever think of just leaving the others alone? No, just that everything could be solved.

That's it, she decided.

"There's something you need to know" Leaving the woman known as her aunt, Clare descended to stand toe to toe with Nick.

"Do tell" In typical smartass fashion, he smirked, not taking her serious

Her eyes narrowed in a way they had never seen before.

It was close to what had been seen from Vida so many times before, aggression shown in the way that only a female could show it.

Then the sound of a slap echoed the room as eyes went wide.

Tempted to feel the stinging skin to confirm that he had actually been hit, the red's eyes were glared into by hers.

"I'll tell you and you will listen" She growled, all traces of the sweet, somewhat clumsy girl gone.

"Clare, calm down" Xander said softly, taking a step to restrain her

No one moved in the face of the anger radiating off her.

Feral in a way, the claws were definitely out.

Her hand curled before rising in warning, the green scurried to hide behind Nick where Chip had already station himself. If anyone was going to be hit, the two had decided, it should be the one who deserved it the most, which was their reason for hiding in essence behind their leader. Besides, maybe if Nick was beat into a bloody pulp, they could send pictures to the girls. It might be enough to bring them back, or at least put a smile on their faces.

Same went for the ninjas, although Shane and Hunter would have been in front in any situation with Blake being covered by the bigger Bradley, the dirt boy shielded by his air friend and Cam standing in the back. In the back of their minds, the two un-bastardly ninjas considered pushing Dustin into the female, but that would just make them sink to the three's level. Besides that was way uncalled for, it would be like pushing him into the front lines of war.

The older team had already been faced in this situation and decided that it was an issue to be dealt with by the team in charge. Besides, even if it was about them, they were not going to stay…

"We'll be going now" Shane smiled nervously, before making a break for the door

But the older woman was already there glaring at them.

…unless they had to.

Knowing their escape root was cut off, the elder team turned to cower in the face of someone who reminded them so much of Tori during that day before she had left.

With one sharp movement, angry girl pointed to the steps. [AN: By steps, I am referring to the ones that lead up to the upper level of the main area of rootcore. There are steps, but back to the story]

"Sit"

One word, a command.

They hurried to obey, not wanting to suffer the same pain as Nick has been dealt.

But still, the idiot he was, Hunter stayed standing.

"No"

She glared and the tall blonde glared right back.

"Sit" She repeated

"Make me" He smirked, knowing he had at least ten muscular pounds on her. Not that he would ever hit a woman, but he easily towered over her.

Terror filled looks washed over the men already seated, knowing that no woman would tolerate that kind of rebel behavior.

"You idiot!" Blake hissed under his breath, knowing his brother would be killed before swallowing his pride.

Two eyes, partially shielded by dirty blond hair, rolled with a snort to show ridicule.

Then a hand grabbed his shirt and yanked it down to her height, he was almost a hunch back.

Orbs of fire glared into his as she spoke "Hunter right?"

He nodded.

"Okay Hunter, here's what you are going to do. Ready?"

Again a nod of the head.

The tone started off soft, maybe even sweet "Sit down, shut up…"

And then there was a roar "…AND LISTEN!"

With that he was shoved, which was enough to put him on his back. Looking up into the eyes of a scary lady, he scrambled to join the others who accepted him with both glares and sighs of relief. The first because he was an idiot for riling her up further and the last because, this mostly came from his team, they were all together. At least they could try to face this without seeing one of their own on the floor groaning in pain, which considering how pissed she was, was a miracle.

"Now…"

With the growled word, every ranger gulped simultaneously, praying that something would happen to stop this.

Xander looked to the older knight, pleading for mercy, but Daggeron shook his head. There was nothing he could do to stop this; they would just have to take it.

"Maybe we could rush her?" Shane whispered to Nick, the two had just happened to land side by side. The air ranger had the thought that she was outnumbered, even with the white witch helping her, and they could take her before any more madness could occur.

The fire boy then gave him a look, one which said 'Are you out of your mind, after what had just happened to your own teammate?'

That crushed about all hope of that plan.

Although it didn't matter at the sign of two hands rubbing together in a devious manner, it seemed that karma was coming back to kick their asses….

"…we are going to have a little chat"

…just like it always did.

* * *

What was taking them?

"How long does it take to go to the store?" She grumbled again, like she had numerous times in the past and in the last five minutes

Her feet carried her across the living room to the window and then back to the kitchen sink, hoping to god that pacing would take her mind off…

"_You didn't have to worry…" _

But I do, it was driving her mind into insanity deeper than it was already. What had happened? The single question was almost as bad as the one that had haunted her since the moment she had left…

How were her guys?

Even if she had tried to cut all contact, all bonds, with them, they were still hers. Her boys, the two words, the ownership that she had earned with their trust brought a small slice of comfort despite the fact that it brought more pain than good. And yet she still clung to the two words, even though it had all the searing flames of betrayal with it.

Her guys.

**Hers**, no one else's.

And yet they weren't, even though they more than likely wanted to fulfill the role.

How were they? It echoed as worry built towards the men that had hurt her without a moment's thought.

She had heard Dustin…-The name hurt, so much. Her best, or was it ex, friend that had helped her through so much-…scream her name while the sounds of the others clashing with mystics raged in the background. It brought so much up, worry at the top of the list.

Why were they fighting, were they hurt? The image of a bleeding ranger, all their faces, came to mind and she clutched the sink in an attempt to keep the tears off.

Why wouldn't they just leave her alone? Part of her wished they would, the half that felt the stinging pain of a fresh betrayal for their joking gain. Yet the other fifty percent remembered the good times, the smiles and the trust; that half wanted them to come after her.

To wrap her up in a group hug, that everything would just be forgotten about the last day.

That it would go back to their wacky, dysfunctional, ninjafied, goon filled, somewhat stupid everyday life…

And yet it couldn't.

The side that wanted to murder them was winning; the yell of the other was growing faint, even with the added support of hearing the five fighting for the phone.

For her voice, for her…

"Tori?" Pushing the tears that threatened to show back to the dark corner with the urge to call them, she turned to see Kira and the sisters' right behind.

"What's up?" To her surprise, she was actually able to pull of a 'chilled' tone of voice

"I overheard Conner muttering to himself and I wanted to give you guys a heads up of what I think he's going to ask" The yellow replied, which caught her attention of it being a somewhat serious matter

"What is it?" Vida, the most impatient, asked

"I think he is going to ask if you want to stay here…" Kira was cut off by a now somewhat un-shy blue

"I thought we already were" Maddie mumbled, a small feeling to rejection threatening to show

"We are" The other water ranger replied to shut down the emotion

"…permanently" The dino finished, instantly met with confused look

"Never go back?" The only pink mused for a moment, giving her answer that she might regret later with one thought of Chip "I could live with that"

The water ninja on the other hand, hesitated. Both sides screamed their thoughts on the subject, that seeing their faces would only be more painful or that she needed to see them.

"Perhaps" The younger mystic replied quietly, it seemed the same war was happening within her as well.

"Possibly" Trying not to commit, to choose a side in the war, her answer was vague, but it didn't stop Kira

"And the guys might ask if you want to join the team"

There was only silence.

Her heart pumped faster with the thought.

Perfect, one half grinned.

No, the other sobbed.

The dinos were great, nothing would ever happen like it had in the past, but the others wouldn't be hers anymore. They would just be a band of guys; she would be **replacing** her guys with Conner and the others.

Another group to worry about, to scold, to keep in line…

Loyalty that she had held so close would be transferred.

No! The half that wanted to go back bellowed, struggling even harder to regain ground that had been lost in the last day.

Did she really want to replace them?

She had time to think up an answer, time…

"Girls?"

Footsteps on the floor, the crinkling of bags.

Three entered the kitchen, with the two adults' right behind.

She was out of time…

Were these, the dinos, hers?

What was she to call hers?

Memories, both good and bad, echoed.

The battle raged inside as the seconds ticked down…

"Hey" She swallowed hard, trying to stall

…until she would have to choose what was hers.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

What will Clare do?

Will the guys make it to Reefside?

And what will Tori choose?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	23. EXTRA: DINO THUNDER

As you might be able to tell from the title of this 'chapter', this is not a chapter.

Reason: I am procrastinating…again. The chapter HAS been started, but it has yet to been finished. I thought I would entertain ya'll with this. I am proud to say that this is much better than the last and I believe that you all will enjoy this.

Once again, I am currently, as you read this, working on the next chapter. Hopefully it'll be done this weekend, but I don't have high hopes.

If you want it done NOW then feel free to give THE HUNT muse a swift kick to the ass, it might actually work.

Anyway, ENJOY!

* * *

**THE NONOS FOR THE DINOS! **

* * *

1. Do not call Tommy Oliver 'dude' and ask him why you can't when he says not to call him that.

-And don't tell him that 'Because I said so' is not an answer.

-Nor is 'go away'

-Neither is a shooing motion in your direction.

2. Do not engage in a conversation that consists of 'Why?', 'Because', 'Because why?' and so on. Someone will get hurt eventually due to a brain aneurism, more than likely Dr. O.

3. Do not call Dr. O 'old', an ass whooping will be in order.

4. Do not tell the original MM rangers that Dr. O is now the pink dino ranger and don't send them a picture that was photo shopped by Hayley.

5. Do not tell people, other rangers included, that Tommy is Goth because he's the black ranger.

6. Do not hide Kira's guitar.

-Nor should you smash it like rock stars do.

-Doodling on it with sharpie would also be a bad idea.

-And changing the strings out for plastic versions would also be a bad idea.

7. Same for Conner's soccer ball; don't go bowling with it or give it to the tarranadrones to play with.

8. Ditto for Ethan's computer; just don't hack it to erase everything and/or put a naked lady as his background.

-And don't fill his search history with naughty stuff right before he loans the computer to someone.9.

9. Sketchbook…just don't mess with it.

-You will die if you do.

10. Do not call HQ the Bat Cave, even if it's a wicked name.

11. Do not cancel the blue ranger's subscription to World of Warcraft.

12. Don't tell the dinos about Dr. O's mullet.

-And don't bring out the pictures.

13. Inviting any villains over to the house would be a bad idea.

-Telling the ninjas that a party is cool with Dr. O while he's out is also a bad idea.

-A party is a bad idea to begin with.

14. Do not paint the Dino symbol on the Jeep.

-Or any other Dr. Oliver owned property.

-That includes the side of the house.

15. Especially not in orange, pink, or sharpie black.

-Just avoid those colors like your life depended on it.

16. Do not dye the tips of Dr. O's hair orange while he's sleeping with the excuse that he's going to be the orange ranger next.

-Same thing with pink, purple, grey (he has enough of that already), gold, silver, and any other obscure color, like aqua.

-And no, 'Damn, I thought for sure that was what color you were going to be next' is NOT an excuse.

-Don't blame Zeltrax when the man wakes up and throws a fit.

17. Do not try to match Tommy and Hayley together by sending the other fake love notes. You will die by strangulation when they finally catch up to you.

-Although they might just thank you later, from the edge of your hospital bed.

18. Do not give Conner sugar.

-Ever.

-Same with Shane.

-You are technically insane if you give either of them any.

19. Do not tell Kira that she's off key.

20. Do not challenge Ethan to hack the CIA/FBI database.

21. Do not tell Trent that Kira is impressed by mimes.

22. Do not pull the 'bucket of water balanced on the door' trick to Principle Randall.

23. Do not inform Mesagog that the rangers feel he is lame, old, and really not that scary; even if he is.

24. Do not take Conner to SeaWorld and tell him that's its okay to fish.

-Nor can you give the red a harpoon.

-And no, he can not have a pet whale/dolphin/shark.

25. Do not tell Kira that she's going to see a great musician before dragging her into a Hannah Montana/Justin Beiber/ Jonas Brother concert.

26. Do not tell the red or white ranger that the other likes Kira and that it'd be a good idea for them to do it liked lions do for females. Which means beat the crap out of each other for rights to woo said female. It won't end well.

-And do not do tell the same thing to ANY team.

27. Do not tell Conner that it is fine to put his clothes in with Trent's during laundry day.

-And do not deny any association when the whites turn pink.

28. Do not show the dinos FF. net.

-Ditto for ANY and ALL teams.

-If you do, you will have A) A pack of angry rangers on your tail or B) a mob of fan fiction writers. Save yourself the pain.

29. Do not steal any of Tommy's stuff and sell it to the highest bidder.

-That includes ranger possessions as well as personal crap.

-Even if he does lose or forget about half of it.

30. Do not call Kira Arcee, Trent Sideswipe, Hayley Ratchet, Ethan Jazz, Conner Bumblebee, or Tommy Optimus Prime.

-And do not alter their wardrobes to mirror their transformers double.

-And do not order Dr. O to lower his voice (although he really doesn't need to) "DINO RANGERS, MORPH AND ROLL OUT!"

31. Do not ask why Conner and Tommy are not allowed near the kitchen.

-Trust me, you don't wanna know.

-Well, if you do, it may have had something to do the fact that the two had been left alone for a day and the rest of the team came back to every smoke alarm going off from where they had burned CEREAL…but there's nothing to confirm it.

- *cough* KIRA HAS PICTURES! *cough*

32. Do not push Conner into a pool.

-Even if it is the 3 foot section.

-Same goes for the ocean.

-Or a hot tub.

33. Do not rename Conner's twin Murphy.

34. Do not tell, more like demand, Eric to tell Conner to go get his 'Stupid fucking rope"

35. In no way, shape, or form is Conner allowed to call Eric a queer.

36. The statement "STAY GOLD, PONY BOY, STAY GOLD!" is not to be used around the twins. Especially not said by Conner.

37. And no, Trent is not their Mexican.

-The white ranger is also not required to say "Who ordered the whoop ass fajitas?" or "Ding dong motherfucker, ding dong!"

38. Ethan is not Rocco.

-He is NOT required to tell a joke.

-And if he does ever lose it and freely says "Fuckin'- What the fuckin'. Fuck. Who the fuck fucked this fucking... How did you two fucking fucks... Fuck!"… Conner is required to say "Well, that certainly illustrates the diversity of the word"

-And finally, in no situation should Ethan ever say "Is it dead?"

39. Dr. Oliver is not an old man.

-And his name is NOT fuck ass.

40. And Kira is not so fucking smart that she makes smart people feel like they are retarded.

41. And if ANY of the dinos (that includes any rangers from any team) say "Can't do much with that, then can we? Perhaps it should've been the rule of wrist!" Kira is allowed/obligated to beat the living shit out of them.

42. If the words "Don't even start, I've had ice on mine" is ever heard coming out of Conner's mouth, do NOT enter the room/ ask what the hell they are talking about.

43. Do not ask why men hide their emotions.

-And yes, "Because it's none of your fucking business" is a good reason answer.

[AN: 33-43 are Boondock Saint (from both movies) references, if you get it then you are probably laughing your ass off, if you don't... RENT THE FUCKING MOVIES! At least YouTube Boondock Saints clips for god's sake, example being Boondock Saints Rope]

44. Do not tell Conner, Trent, and Ethan to recreate the Three Musketeers.

-And I do not mean the candy bar.

-Supplying them with pimp hats, velvet jackets, and plastic swords will not help the situation.

45. Do not suggest to them to form a boy band.

-Even if they can harmonize.

-Kira will NOT be a groupie.

-And Dr. O will not be the grumpy manager.

46. Telling Conner to challenge Shane to a rematch would be a bad idea.

-No offense to Conner, but an air ninja will kick you ass like he did the first time.

-And that's the bottom line, because the author says so!

47. Telling any of the rangers, especially Conner, than anything in his/her color is automatically theirs is also a bad idea.

-Another, and certainly not the last, ranger color war would ensue.

48. Do not giving helium to the dino rangers.

49. Ranger suits/powers are not to be used for:

-Trick or treating (You are too old guys!)

-Kicking the asses of the football team (Yes, I know they deserve it Ethan)

-Watching Kira (Really guys, really?)

-Avoiding fangirls (Blending into the walls is unfair Trent, at least give us a chance!)

-Warding off wrinkles (It doesn't work that way Tommy)

-Impressing girls (Guys…)

-Launching a sneak attack on Dr. O (You'll still lose)

-Pressing a person's doorbell before streaking away (Conner!)

-Ect.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL:

50. Do not make a list of things not to do to the dino thunder crew.

That just pisses them off.

* * *

You like? Then review!

Thank you!

THe next chapter should be out soon!


	24. Fear

**Double Deuces **this time!

Ninjas, mystics, nor dinos belong to me!

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

**Hey:** Deuce is another word for two, so double twos is chappie 22, which this is!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: **HIYA!** So there's this poll on my profile, but it's special…why? It asks you to fill in the blank. Here it is, **The Ninjas/Mystics are…** Trust me when a say that there are many different options to choose from to answer that prompt, but just to see what ya'll think as a whole…it's a poll! Like for example of the choices for fill in is **Are idiots**. So the whole sentence would be **The ninjas/mystics are idiots**. Isn't that the truth? But there are many more just like it, I will show the results on here SO GO VOTE!

ANNN: In the first part, there is some stuff about Ninja Ops and the lake. Or pond, waterfall, whatever the hell you want to call it. But I am assuming that it is decently deep, like five feet at minimum, but if that is wrong then I apologize ahead of time. But I really don't think that it matters too much to the story…then why the hell am I typing this? Oh right, to tell you about the possible fudged facts in this chapter. If you find fault, then do me a favor and fucking deal with it.

Also: the second section might be confusing, but it will be explained so don't you worry!

**Hey buddy! You, ya you! **

**You wanna buy a chapter? I got chapters here real cheap! **

**All ya gotta do is gimmie a review and you'll see the chapter soon enough. **

**Get it?**

**Got it?**

**Good. **

**Reviews make me *~! ~! ~! ~! ~ HAAPPPPYYY~! ~!~!~!***

**Now, ya'll ready for this? **

**One more thing: **I. AM. SO. SORRYYY this is so late, but some stuff that got left behind due to procrastination came back to kick my ass, kind of like this, so yeah…but this chapter is like thirty five pages long or something, so I hope that makes up for the delay!

As always, I hope and know that you **ENJOY! **

* * *

_It was quiet. _

_The rustling of the leaves, the wind blowing past his exposed skin. _

_From where he was standing, cool water enveloping half his body as the sun's rays heated the part that was dry, the area around seemed calm. _

_Calm before a storm, he mused with another look into the dense trees. _

_Too quiet, he decided. _

_Well it was, if you didn't include the sight of Dustin balancing on one of Tori's boogie boards in the middle of the lake in front of ninja ops, the other members of the team laughing when the yellow fell. Not that the dirt boy didn't have balance, but it didn't really help that the thunders were causing 'waves' of water to knock him off. He was currently considering tackling Hunter, which would inevitably lead to Dustin going after Blake, to start a water battle of Wind vs. Thunder. Then their techie would probably remark how immature and uncivilized they were. He would, right before they dragged him in watery retaliation._

_Speaking of the Samurai, where was he? _

_Scanning for a moment, he found the somewhat uptight ranger. _

_Turned out that Cam was currently situated at the edge of the pool. With the excuse that he was sore from the battle they had just participated in, but they all were so it didn't work, the green ninja was lounging with his eyes closed while trying to avoid getting anything above his waist, which included his glasses. _

"_HUNTER!" _

_Key word being __**trying. **_

_The crimson wonder was now doing a victory lap around the pond with a smirk smile while the others, including himself, tried not to laugh at the vivid image of a dripping green ranger glaring through his clouded spectacles. _

"_You are so dead bro" The other thunder ninja back up to the point where Dustin was, the two of them watching while trying not to get murdered in the process of Cam wading deeper but not before whipping off his glasses. _

"_You have so little faith in me; I think I can take…AHHHH!" That was the last thing heard before all the dirty blond hair had been shoved forcefully under the surface of the water by a very pissed Cam. _

"_Huh" The yellow remarked as flailing arms and bubbles breached the surface as the growling samurai kept the head of the brooding idiot down. _

"_What?" He asked, swimming leisurely towards the two while grinning madly at the sight of the 'big bad crimson' (as one fangirl, who had been part of a pack of them that had fucking appeared out of NOWHERE after one of their battles, had labeled the idiot. Now he wouldn't let them forget it, to their dismay) being dominated by the usually calm Cam. _

"_I didn't know that you could ninja streak in the water" Dustin replied with a smile, as a gasping crimson finally got his head above water. _

_Giving one more death glare, Cam then swept the feet out from under the red in one smooth motion that sent the panting man back under the surface before retreating back to his spot on the edge. _

"_I guess you can kick ass too" Blake added to their amusement _

_Once again, the tallest idiot of the team resurfaced while gasping for breath with them trying to smother their laughter, failing miserably in the attempt. _

"_That, my brother, is why I don't put faith in you sometimes" The navy drawled as the crimson wearily dog paddled to their positions. _

"_Fuck you" Was the response that made them snicker even more. _

_Once it faded, there was silence for a moment, which made him reconsider the fact that he just had this feeling that something bad was about to happen. There wasn't a stormy cloud in the sky, their daily quota of monster had been filled already (with a regular minion that had died, grown, and died once more), and Hayley had given the stock boys a day off. Tori was surfing, as she had been for the entire day. _

_The attack had sounded during her 'relaxation' time, so they hadn't called her and Cam had made sure that her morpher hadn't gone off. The creation had gone down easy with the five of them there; there had been no reason for her to interrupt her wave time. _

_And now, with the somewhat hot sun shining down on them, they enjoyed the perks of having their base of operations behind a waterfall. The idea had been suggested by Blake offhandedly after they had all complained about how fucking hot it was. So, since there was not a girl around, stripping their shirts (and jeans in Dustin's case) to leave the best improv swimming gear of the moment, it had taken a lot a convincing to get Cam to do the same, they had dived into the nice cool water. _

_And that was where they had been ever since. _

"_Perfect" Dustin remarked, breaking his train of thought _

"_Agreed" Cam stated, mostly over the water splash attack from the crimson _

"_I doubt anything could ruin it" The crimson motorcrosser breathed _

"_Don't jinx it dude" He retorted, the feeling that something was coming gnawing at his stomach. _

_He wasn't usually wrong about this type of thing, another reason why he made such a good red. Turning back to his teammates, he met eyes with the other leader (even though he denied it), who was looking at him with the same apprehensive that something, like is always did, would and was about to happen. _

"_With his luck, he probably will" Despite the stare down between the two of them, the others continued the conversation. _

"_True, very…" The sentence coming from Blake's mouth ran off as they all heard it. _

_Without a second thought they all streaked to the cover of the trees, all of them taking a trunk to cover themselves. Even though they were dripping, the movement had been silent, almost like barely detectible sound they had heard. _

_Footsteps, ones that were coming their way. _

_He met Dustin's gaze, who had a grin on his face. It had spread to the others, as it did to him before he flipped Hunter off for fucking jinxing them. The dirty blonde rolled his eyes, silent chuckles coming from them all. _

_Figures that on ONE of the FEW days they had off that SOMETHING had to happen just because HUNTER had to FUCKING say something! _

_But it wasn't just the crimson's luck; they all were notorious for being magnets for trouble. _

_He turned back to the situation at hand, about to peek around the tree when he heard something that sent a shiver down his spine. He didn't care that he was a ninja, a ranger; he was scared. Hell, he'd scream that he was shaking right now to the heavens if it would calm her down. _

_Unfortunately…_

"_WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU BASTARDS?" _

…_that wasn't an option. _

_He swallowed hard, the sound of Dustin doing the same reaching his ears. _

"_Shit" Had they not been in the situation that they were in, his jaw might have dropped at the fact that the 'proper' green ranger had cussed, but there was no time for it now. _

"_What's going on?" Hunter hissed at him _

"_Tori's mad" It was simple, the statement, the two words meant so much more. _

"_So?" The shorter Bradley asked, he was tempted to snort_

_Obviously the two thunders had not experienced it yet. _

_Lucky bastards. _

_Anger was another simple word, like so many others, that meant so much more when you added a name in front of it. Tori anger, like Hayley anger or any girl anger for that matter, was not like regular anger. _

_It, known as her anger, was a wave of shouting, cursing, and punches. It was rarely seen, it was not pleasant, and…_

"_SHANE, GET THE FUCK OUT HERE!" _

…_was hunting his ass down. _

_For what reason? He had no idea. _

_Didn't matter though, because he was dead if he got caught in her clutches. Screw any friendship that he had with her, it was open season when she was this way. _

"_Maybe we could push Hunter out there instead?" His best friend suggested in dead seriousness. No offence to the brooding idiot, but they had been best buds since grade school, red trumped crimson. The yellow ranger wasn't going to give him up to the blue, there was no chance in hell; not that she was one, but they lived on the golden rule, bros before hoes. _

"_No, but we could…" He wasn't going to do that; he had a better idea instead _

"_You aren't talking about…" Cam ran off as he nodded. The green, other than himself and Dustin, had been the only one to be unfortunately exposed to her rage, which made the three of the allies in this hell of a situation. _

"_You in?" It was imperative that the two would participate, distraction was the key. With a quick nod, the green was with him. _

"_But dude, that plan is so fucked up" Dustin groaned, although he knew that the earth ninja would help him no matter what. _

"_I know, but do you have a better idea?" He sighed in response as the two thunders looked at the strangely. _

_His plan, which was one that they had planned in case her she-bitch mode showed up again, which it would, was a simple and harsh idea. It was fair and unfair, but it was the only thing that would guarantee the safety of the other two men (now four) in the equation. _

"_What are you talking about?" The dirty blonde of the group demanded _

_Ignoring him, he looked at the yellow and green "Good luck" _

"_Wait, what is going on?" Blake asked in panic, although no one answered _

"_Same to you both" Cam nodded before readying himself _

"_See you on other side dude" One version of a man hug later and they were ready to go, well the thunders weren't. _

"_Will you answer us?" Hunter growled, obviously not happy at the moment. _

"_What is going on?" The navy ranger repeated _

_While he was tempted to not tell them shit to give himself a better chance, he decided against it, it would just be cruel to do so. He was the (co-) leader of the team, leaving his teammates in danger was against what he was supposed to be doing. _

"_She is coming for us…" He began in a low voice, knowing that the footsteps were getting closer _

"_For you, you mean" The other red countered _

"_I may be her target, but she will take us all down in the process of getting me" He replied in a factual tone, knowing that it was true _

"_Well you could just walk out there and save her the trouble" The taller of the Bradleys suggested in half sarcasm _

"_I could say the same to you" He really didn't need to be bickering with Hunter, but he wasn't going to back down; true to red ranger code. _

"_Whatever you say airhead" He tried to ignore the urge to tear Hunter's had off; he hated that stupid nickname that had somehow been imposed on him. _

"_Hey Dustin?" There was no way that the bastard was getting away with it. _

"_Yeah dude?" The yellow replied _

"_Did the brooding idiot say something? I thought I heard something but it could have just been the wind, so did you hear something?" _

_He found himself the target of a well placed glare. _

"_Shane…" _

"_Shut it or I'm pushing you both out there" Blake smacked his brother upside the head and gave him a glare, feeling the tension in the air from the bigger situation other than the idiot and himself getting into a fight. _

"_Here's the plan, run and don't get caught" The stated sentence was simple, just like it needed to be. _

"_You call that a plan?" Hunter raised an eyebrow _

"_You call that a face?" He shot back with a smirk which was met with a glare _

"_If we go different directions, we have a better chance of escaping" Cam snapped as the cracking twigs and rustled braches sounded only a few feet away. _

"_It can't be that bad, to face her" The blue thunder joked before seeing their serious expressions and knew it was true. _

_But as the shortest ninja realized it to be true, he voiced his concerns "One problem with that, she'll hone in on one" _

"_Shane" The darker shade of red coughed _

"_We know" Dustin nodded as he glared slightly at the crimson _

"_Every man for himself" He really wished it wasn't this way, but it was the best plan at the moment. One of them would be caught, the others getting away scott free, it was the priced they paid with this plan. _

"_Hell no, I am not leaving one of you idiots behind" Blake protested before giving a look of apology towards Cam for the intelligence part of it. _

_The three that were included in the moron category would have retaliated, but the rest of the statement sunk in before they could do so. Leaving a teammate, a brother in arms, at the mercy of an enemy, aka a rabid female, would be betraying the team. _

_It was that simple and it change the plan permanently. _

"_We could buddy up" The earth ninja suggested in partial amusement _

"_Why not?" He replied, nudging a bit closer to the yellow to claim him as his partner. The others seemed to understand this; no one challenged his statement that Dustin was coming with him. _

"_I'll take the shaded duo" Cam piped up; bring a small smile to his face at the comment. _

"_Just make sure to keep up greeny" Hunter retaliated with a smirk _

"_Dudes!" Dustin snapped his fingers "We need a codeword" _

"_For what?" Blake raised an eyebrow_

"_For…" The sentence was cut off _

"_YOU'VE GOT TO THE COUNT OF FIVE!" _

"…_if one of us gets caught" The yellow finished blankly _

"_FIVE!" _

"_How about screaming bloody murder?" The tallest of a team said with a chuckle _

"_FOUR!" _

"_That'll work" He responded, they needed to get moving…_

"_THREE!" _

…_now. _

"_Good luck" He repeated once again, letting them know that he hoped that he wished he was the one that was caught other than them. _

"_TWO!" _

_Four heads nodded, he swallowed hard. _

"_Let's go" The brooding idiot of the team said as they all took a deep breath to prepare. _

"_ONE!" _

_A moment later, he was alone except for the yellow streak a few feet away. _

_The trees blurred around him as he ran for his fucking life, listening for the sound of a tigress on his tail. There would be no hesitation when she pounced and he would go down if tackled because she would do it so fast that he wouldn't even expect it. _

"_Dude" A panting Dustin searched the area; it seemed that they were safe for now. With the new information, they took a moment to rest. _

_Bad idea, a really bad one. _

"_SHANE!" _

_Because, who was coming crashing through the brush at them, the bitch of the hour herself. Eyes narrowed, fists clenched, and legs sprinting; this was not good. She had a target in mind, his tanned self, and with the growls echoing the forest, she was going to take him down. _

"_Run" _

"_But dude…" _

"_Just run, I'll distract her; she's after me anyway" _

_The yellow nodded before taking off, he knew that his best friend was worried for him. It was a suicide mission after all, but at least the earth ninja would be safe. _

_Dodging her first swipe, he darted for ninja ops. _

_Perhaps if he could get there, Cyber Cam could lock it down or something. It was a long shot, but anything was better than…_

"_Fuck!" He swore as a root caught his foot and he went flying into the dirt. Quickly trying to get up, he found himself face to face with her. _

_At least the others got away, he tried to be positive. _

_He tried to be positive as the front of his shirt was grabbed so that her snarling face was only a few inches away. _

_He tried; he really did; although the chanting in his head of "I'm so screwed" going through his mind didn't really help that cause. _

_Neither did the fact that her claws were definitely out. _

_He expected to be punched, which would not be uncommon for a female ranger in her position. _

_And with the mind set of a geek, one that was getting beat up by the football team, he coward slightly while waiting the yelling that was soon to begin. _

_He waited for a moment, but she didn't say anything. _

_Hell, she wasn't even looking at him. Instead she was glaring out into the trees, like the leaves had made her mad. _

"_Tori?" He called, uncertain if talking to her was a good idea. _

"_Yes?" She replied quietly while still honed in on the many leaves _

"_You wanted to talk to me?" Hopefully she would say no and he could make a run for it, but she had yelled for him earlier so the chances weren't that high. _

"_I wanted to talk to all of you"_

_Wait, what? Did he hear that right? _

"_Then why did you single me out?" _

"_Because where you are…"With a wicked smile she turned back to him "…Dustin is" _

_Well that was fucking great, he thought, she was after the yellow. _

_Then she was gone and the code word, also known as screaming, was heard. _

"_AHHHHHH!" _

_That was what sounded as Dustin was thrown from the trees to land on top of him. Grunting in pain at the weight of the flying yellow slamming into him, he barely got out what he wanted to say. "I told you to run" _

_Groaning, the yellow rolled off of him effectively elbowing him in the gut. He let out a hiss of pain as the earth ninja noticed "Sorry dude" Rubbing his sore neck, his best friend got around to answering the question. "Like I was going to leave you to the mercy of…" _

_Cue a growl from her; they both winced while scooting back an inch. _

"…_that" Dustin finished in an almost whisper _

"_Idiot" He grumbled, although he knew that nothing was going to change the decision that Dustin would more than likely make in the future. It was no use; after all he would have done the same thing._

"_That's Hunter remember?" A small chuckle escaped at the response, but it soon faded as she decided to start her 'lecture' of sorts. _

_Well she was going to…_

"_I AM AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" _

_Another snarl later, there was another body groaning beside them. _

"_Retard" He smirked at the facedown body of a specific crimson ranger, he was glad that the two of them had been able to move to avoid Hunter's mass from crushing them to death. _

"_Hun in" Was the soft sound that managed to get through the dirt _

"_What was that?" Dustin leaned in to help, he did the same in reluctance _

_As they managed to get the dirty face of their brooding, idiotic, teammate out of the ground, they heard what he really meant to say "Shut it" _

_He snorted while Dustin tried to smother the laughter that came with seeing a brown faced Hunter sit up to try and brush the crap away, which didn't work, it just smeared. _

"_Where's Blake?" The words came offhandedly from his mouth_

_As the elder Bradley shook rocks and dirt out of his mouth, which had been open during impact, to prepare to answer that question; there was an answer from beside the earth ninja. _

"_Here" _

_They all looked to find the younger, and shorter, half of the thunder duo sitting Indian style while looking slightly intimidated at the female who was growling at them. _

"_I think that Hunter might have to pass on his crown of idiocy" He said in shock that the navy had actually given himself up when he could be hanging out in the trees, safe from her. _

"_I told you that I wasn't leaving you idiots behind, besides you know why I'm here" Yes they did, it was quite simple. _

"_Of course we do bro" Hunter grinned in amusement, gaining a punch to the shoulder a moment later. _

_The last resort to calm Tori down was Blake, code name lover boy, who had been accurately named so by Hunter. It had become painfully obvious, except to the two that should be a couple, that he liked her and she liked him over the various battles. Of course they denied it, but with the crimson prodding from one side and himself and Dustin pushing from the other, the two were slowly getting closer together. _

_Blake gave his brother a small glare, knowing what he was hinting at, before looking at the dirty gold locks "You've got a rock in your hair" before reaching and smacking the elder upside the head. _

"_Dude" Dustin snickered as Hunter just put on a goofy grin at the blow; defensiveness in Blake was what came with feelings. And when saying feelings, in the navy, the deepest layer was love. _

_Which they all knew what that meant and if Tori not been there, one of them would have been doing a mock kissing imitation to tease the shorter navy ninja. _

_Speaking of Tori…_

_By no signal or sign, all their heads turned to see their only (thank god) female member standing in a wide stance. Her hair was slightly damp, board shorts and the signs of a bikini top in the form of strings sticking out from under her shirt supported the theory that she had just come from the beach. Legs locked with fingers tapping against her forearm from where they were crossed, they knew they were screwed. _

_With a death glare she growled before finally, and firmly, speaking "Do not turn my morpher off again" _

"_But…" He found himself being narrowed in on _

"_But what?" His best female friend snarled _

"_We did it so that you could keep surfing" A small smile tried to convey honesty, but she was more concerned with the fact that…_

"_Just because I was surfing does __**not**__ mean that you can do that!" Her eyes narrowed as she pouted just a bit, which (while it was more common with Dustin) was not weird for Tori. _

"_It's not like we got rid of your powers, you could have still morphed" Hunter added to try and help the cause. The cause labeled 'Not get asses kicked' or NGAK, there was a chapter in every ranger team. _

"_We just got rid of the beepiness" They all looked at Dustin _

"_Beepiness?" Tori questioned, they all wondered if she was still in 'kickass and kill' mode. _

"_You know; the BEEP-DEP-BEDEP thing…" _

_Then their morphers coincidentally went off, he found it interesting how closely Dustin had gotten the sound; they all knew who it had to be. _

"_Cam, we are a bit busy, what do you want?" Not to sound envious, but the green was currently the only one who had actually stayed out of danger's way. _

"_Nothing, just wanted to know if I was close" Cam replied after landing on his two feet behind them, effectively putting them between her and him. _

"_Now that we are all here…" She cracked a knuckle for effect, it worked "…do not; I don't care if I am surfing, if I am talking to someone, if for some reason I am getting a massage…" _

"_Blake" Hunter coughed, quietly, so that it was only heard by the guys; they all smirked while the navy blushed. _

_One of her eyebrows rose, but she continued "…do not, I repeat, __**do not**__ turn the beepiness off on my morpher"  
_

"_Not a word" The green ranger stated, they all turned to give him a 'You're seriously going to correct her?' Not that it was out of character for Cam, the dude had done it plenty in the past, present, and more than likely in the future. _

"_Well dude, you must of missed the memo, because it is a word" Dustin smirked back _

"_And if he says it is, it must be true" He thumbed playfully at his best friend _

"_Of course" Blake added, like it would be absurd to say otherwise _

"_Duuuh" Hunter said slowly with a goofy smile _

"_Looks like your outnumbered" A faint smile came to her lips, which brought the thought if her anger was gone…_

_The samurai rolled his eyes, knowing he was right._

"_Back on topic, turn off my morpher for any reason and I will break your necks" _

…_that would be a no. _

"_Isn't that a bit harsh dude?" The dirt boy of the team asked as they all winced at the idea. _

"_It's simple, quick, and can be done at any moment; to answer your question, no" She smiled evilly, they gulped. _

_If he had been scared, which he had been and still was, he definitely was now. If you looked at how he was scooting behind Hunter inch by inch, you would not think that he was a ranger, or even a red for that matter. But he didn't care; he was not going to be the first victim. _

_Fear was something that was integrated into their lives in multiple ways, for good and bad reasons. Being a ranger meant you were to be fearless, another word for this is stupid, not afraid to face an enemy no matter how strong, fast, or smelly they were. On the other end of the spectrum though was the fact that their job as protectors came with even more risks. Being killed in battle topped the list, but the little things (like almost drowning in artificial flavoring) also added up. Thankfully they dealt with it (sports, beating the crap out of each other, ect.), but there was always a worst case scenario around the corner. _

_Which was probably why Tori was flipping out on them, he felt like…_

"_What the hell?" Hunter asked when he smacked his own forehead _

_All the rangers were giving him looks, probably wondering if he had __**finally**__ snapped and gone insane. They all predicted it to happen, from stress, from them, from a combo of the two, much to his dismay. [AN: If only he knew, remember chapter 8!] _

"_Shane, is there any reason why you just hit yourself?" She asked as her stance of anger relaxing a bit in concern for him. _

_Oh course, he thought while ignoring them. _

_Oh course she was angry. _

_It all made sense; a faint smile came to his face. _

"_Shane, dude" Dustin put a hand on his shoulder, shaking it a bit, he heard the concern in his friend's voice and he knew it also translated into the movement. _

_He shrugged the hand off before rising to his feet. _

_She was angry, but under the surface it was all another emotion. _

_Concern. _

_He couldn't imagine it, being skateboarding and seeing the zords fighting a monster…without him. Guilt would overwhelm him, even though he knew that they were skilled, it would still hurt every time the others were hit. _

_And just standing there, being powerless, like a fly watching humans fight to the death, would kill him. Especially when he knew that the five people that meant so much to him had their lives on the line. _

_But it wasn't a 'what if' situation, he looked at her. _

_Two blue eyes, radiating concern with a hint of guilt and fear. _

_**Fear**_

_For them. _

_For what would happen if they were gone. _

_She had been there, watching from the outside. _

_Nothing had happened today, they were all fine, but the X factor was always there. The unknown, the future was a mystery; there was no telling what would come next. Tomorrow, they could be the ones engulfed by a wall of fire before falling face down in the earth. _

_No matter how they tried to forget that one fact, it was always there. _

_This was why she had gone postal on them. _

_Not because she was mad. _

_It was because she was letting out the frustration of being on the sidelines, being helpless while the battle raged. She was expressing the anger by venting, which was not uncommon for any of them. And by venting, he meant yelling at them for leaving her._

"_I'm sorry, it won't happen again" The words were soft spoken, but they echoed the forest. _

"_Good" She replied, a small smile coming to her face. _

_He expected the smile to be from the fact that she knew that he understood the turmoil she had been through. He GOT it, while the others…_

"_Did we miss something?" Blake asked in a puzzled tone _

"_I don't think so dude" Dustin replied while searching the two of them for a hint of what the hell was going on. _

…_were still clueless. _

"_Do you think we should explain?" He whispered _

"_No, they'll figure it out" Was the dry reply _

"_What the hell just happened?" Hunter asked with an eyebrow raised _

"_Eventually" She added with the comment _

"_Hopefully" He shrugged with a grin _

_Fear was a part of their lives, which was the truth. But it really didn't matter; they would just cross that bridge, of what could happen, when they came to it. _

_Right now, he didn't care. _

_He just wanted to get back in the water, it was getting hot and cooling down was on the top of hit list. _

_The group seemed to have the same idea as they slowly walked back towards the cool pool. Everything seemed to be fine, now that Tori's tantrum was done. _

"_What is that?" He looked to see what she was eyeing as they reached the edge of the pool. _

_The boogie board that was floating idly in the water…_

_He cringed, crap. _

"_We borrowed it, we thought you wouldn't mind" Dustin said sheepishly, giving him a look of concern while doing so. _

"_You 'borrowed' it?" She repeated while using her fingers for air quotes. _

"_Yes we did" He replied, knowing that she was not happy _

"_You 'borrowed' it without asking me?" She growled _

_Not good, he thought. _

"_Dude" He looked to Dustin, who shrugged _

"_Dude…" His head shook; he knew exactly what the yellow was thinking. _

"_Dude, we are already screwed" His best friend replied _

"_What are they doing?" Cam asked Tori, as the four watched them go back and forth _

"_I have no idea" She replied, which made the others that much more curious. Tori was in the wind ranger secret circle, if she didn't know what was going on, then it must be super important. _

"_True, but dude…" He was cut off in his response _

"_I know dude" Dustin smirked while looking to her for a minute _

_He looked to her too, their gazes staying on her form for a minute._

_It wasn't like they had anything else to lose. _

_What the hell? _

"_You ready?" An evil grin came to his face too. _

"_Always dude" _

_She eyed them suspiciously _

"_What are you two AHHHHHHHHHHH!" _

_The water felt cool sliding across his body as he hit the water, the world above seeming to fade away for a moment. Then he surfaced to see the other three members of their team staring at him in shock. _

"_What the fuck are you three looking at?" He called as they tried to reattach their jaws. _

"_You never seen water before?" Dustin chuckled as he too breached the water. _

"_You didn't" Cam said with wide eyes _

"_We did" Both he and Dustin replied with a smirk, thinking of how much Tori was going to hate them for __**tackling **__her into the water. _

_Then a blonde head appeared. _

"_Really guys, really?" She glared at them for a moment, but they could see a smile threatening to surface. _

"_We thought you needed to cool down Tor" He replied while grinning madly before giving Dustin a high five. _

"_You guys are dead" Hunter stated _

_By the glare he was getting you might have thought that the crimson was actually right for once, but both he and Dustin saw a faint smile as she nodded towards the three still on the shore. _

_She swam to the edge; he cracked a grin at Dustin before they did the same. _

"_You guys mind?" She asked, holding her hand out for assistance _

_Blake grabbed it, as Hunter and Cam did the same to the two of them, to prepare to help her out of the water. _

"_You know what? There's something you need to know about us wind rangers" She asked aloud _

"_What's that?" The navy replied _

"_That if we are wet…" He started while digging his heels into the of the dirt side _

"…_then you'll be wet" Dustin finished _

"_SHIT!" _

"_WHAT THE AHHH!" _

"_FUCK!" _

_A moment later, there were six wet ninjas. _

_Three of which were grinning. _

_Fear was part of their lives, it was true. _

"_SHANE!" Hunter growled when he surfaced, obviously not happy with being duped by his air ninja self. But it was all in fun, hence the smiles on both their faces. _

_Fear was there, the unknown. _

_It was there, but at the moment…_

_Giving a 'bring it' signal with his hands, he watched as the other two surfaced to join the grinning group. A grin was what was on his face when he was tackled by the elder Bradley in retaliation for being pulled in. _

_Everything was fine, Lothor be damned. _

…_he didn't fucking care. _

* * *

With all the back and forth that occurred in his mind in the moments before, at, and driving back from the store; even when he had idiotically challenged Ethan and Trent that he would ask as soon as they had gotten back, he still wasn't sure.

Even if he felt confident that they would say yes, coming through the door to the secluded house had increased his nervousness ten fold. What if they said no? It would be awkward and it might just screw the relationship that he had with them. Three red rangers, two if you didn't count Hunter (But he counted the idiot because when he had asked one time if crimson was red, he had almost gotten his ass kicked. Dude couldn't take a fucking joke), had already screwed the three girls over; he didn't want to become the fourth. He wanted to be there for them, like he had been during this entire process, which was why he thought (hoped) that this was a good idea that would be beneficial for everyone.

But on the other hand, what had truly been the extent of the damage that they had endured? Was it something that really was willing to cut the deepest bonds that a ranger had, to their team? Yes, they were mad at their teammates, but was it that bad that they would join another team? He couldn't imagine himself doing so, no matter how mad or how hurt he was at his team's actions.

He had heard the stories, the pain, everything.

It all boiled down to one question for him: Was he going to ask them?

All this had been going through his mind when he and his two wingmen had walked through the door of the house. He had told the two that he was going to ask the girls when they got home, but he was having second thoughts.

"Come on McKnight, man up" He growled softly to himself, although he knew the others had heard.

"Yeah, fearless leader" Ethan bumped playfully into him, to his annoyance

"You can do it" Trent snickered

"Shut the fuck up" He snapped while glaring before looking around the living room, to find it deserted.

"Did you get everything?" Hayley asked, seeing their entrance

By deserted, he meant barren of the three he really needed to talk to.

"Yep" The two flanking him chirped, knowing partially the war that his mind was raging

They knew of the turmoil; even if they did tease him about it, they knew that the decision was not an easy one. The two had offered numerous times, mostly while they had been driving, to do it for him. He had declined every time knowing that why it might be easier for him, it would mean more coming from the leader, from him.

"Girls?" He called, walking slowly towards the kitchen with the others right behind.

Entering the tiled area, everything seemed to stop.

What the…

Looking back, he might wonder how the hell he kept his grip on the bags balanced in his hands. How the plastic didn't fall to the floor to shatter the delicate eggs in one bag and spill gallon of milk in the other might be a question he would muse later.

He would probably curse his actions later, the ones that he was about to perform as he stood there. Saying that he was a complete idiot, even if the others said otherwise.

But for the current moment, just like he swore to the other male dinos that he wouldn't do, nothing matter due to the fact that he, himself, his body, his brain, every part of him had…

"Hey" She, one of the three he was trying to protect, smiled a fake smile, one that was obviously forced.

…froze.

Her eyes, like the two other pairs that were wide eyed at him as they stared, were blank. And yet filled to the brim with emotion, ones that he knew would be there. Guilt, pain, but there was one that slapped him in the face.

**Fear. **

The sucker punches kept rolling as every passing second revealed more from her gaze.

**Panic. **

**Despair. **

Why? It didn't matter as every action in the room fell silent to the echo of his footsteps.

They were afraid of something, which would be why those emotions were showing.

But what?

There had been no sign of the two bastard teams; he doubted that the three would still be here if there had been. Kira and the two 'adults' wouldn't be so calm, tension would be in the air. So nothing had changed since they left, what was causing…

All three were staring at him, it all became clear.

The cause of the shock, the panic, it was in the room.

It was him.

The thought at first might have seemed ludicrous, after everything that had happened, but it soon sunk in that every emotion was pointed at him, it had all started with his entrance into the kitchen.

They were afraid of him.

He almost wished that one of them would step up and slap the idea right out of his head, even if it seemed to be the truth every moment that went by. Then everything could go back to normal without the thought interrupting. He wished someone would hit him…almost.

But as the seconds ticked by without a blow delivered, it seemed that the desire for someone to do so faded; the idea that he would have bet his life to be a lie five minutes earlier had taken over to assert itself as something…

…the truth.

Maybe it was something he had said, even though he couldn't remember anything that would have upset them.

Had he tried too hard, to help, to be their friend? The thought sunk in like a dagger to the heart. Guilt flared across every nerve sending flames down his spine that send his mind into further chaos than before.

At the same moment, although he had thought that his fists were clenched, the sound of the bags hitting the floor with a shushed thud.

"Conner?" A hand touched his cheek; his blank gaze filled by Kira's concerned eyes.

He had almost forgotten that they existed, his team, when those two blue eyes were shockingly glaring at him.

Answering the question about his condition, speaking in general was not possible his brain decided.

But running was, his dino power kicking in on its own as the familiar red glow swallowed him whole.

The classically toned house faded into trees until he was alone for miles in all directions, but still he kept moving faster than the human eye could see. The power coursing through his body did little to help the cocktail of pain and confusing that had consumed him.

After everything that had happened in the past twenty four hours, after he had tried to play the good guy, after he had decided to go head to head with two ranger teams to protect the three, after he had spent ten minutes staring at the same fucking gallon of ice cream trying to decide whether to…

"Well that's definitely out of the fucking question" He choked out to the barren surroundings as he stopped to sink against a tree to the ground.

He had only made it worst, their situation.

For that, they hated him.

And no matter what the others said…

If they tried to explain otherwise...

…that was the bottom line.

* * *

_He looked up to the clouded sky which was overlapped by the dark trees, cursing to himself at the storm that was coming into the mystic area around Rootcore. _

_A flash in the distance with a thunderous boom a moment later made him dig for the damn weed even that much harder. Not that the rain that had just started pouring down to turn the ground into a muddy fucking monsoon. _

"_Damn weather" He muttered while trying to keep the thick cape covering him from dragging in the mud. It was longer than what he was used to, and heavier, to 'protect from the rain' as Clare had said. _

_He wasn't sure why he had agreed to this, hunting for a small plant when he knew that a storm was coming. His 'chipy sense' had been tingling, as Xander had once joked, the power of the coming lightning surging through his body in anticipation for the crackles and booms that came with the storm. _

_And yet, he had gone out into the light showers for a small flower that Uddonna needed, one that Clare had forgotten to grab earlier in the day. 'No problem' he had said when they had said that he didn't to. _

"_Shit" He swore as he slipped to his knees in the quick sand version of mud, his hood coming off in the process. _

_Why, he wondered, did he agree to it? Oh right, he was trying to be nice. _

_Not that he didn't like the clouds, the cracking whip of lightning flying across the sky for a moment in time. He lived to see that, for that one second before the yellow faded into the background of gray. _

_Rain, on the other hand? _

_Cue the wind shifting the leaves, in turn dumping a gallon of freezing cold water on his exposed head. _

_He fucking __**hated **__rain. _

_Yes, he knew it was necessary for everything to live, that he would die of dehydration in about a week without it…but that did not mean that he loved the cold bath he was getting! Couldn't the magic water fairies just deliver the water each week or something? That would be epic, but NO they had to send it the form of rain, which was soaking him to the bone. _

_He didn't even bother putting the hood back up, it was useless now, as he trudged a few feet. Squinting in the darkness, he really wished he had a flashlight or something, he decided what he was going to do. _

_Giving up was not usually in his arsenal of actions, but now he was going to march his muddy ass up to the dragon mouth, tell Clare that he couldn't find it, take a hot shower, and fucking go to bed. _

_Usually he would have stayed outside, in a dry place, to listen to the orgasmic snaps of the storm's whip for hours, but his mood was now too ruined for that._

_In the back of his mind, he wondered if this was how Vida felt when she was grumpy. The pink had volunteered to come with him, but he had told her that only one of them needed to get wet. He was glad she wasn't here to see him so pissed off, a mood that was so far from his usually sunny disposition. _

"_Chip?" His name was barely heard over the thunder and the rain pounding every part of the earth around him. _

_Trying to find a shielded place, he huddled under a tree while upholstering and bringing his morpher up to his lips. It was wet; he hoped to god that the magical weapons were water proof. _

"_Y-yes?" He chattered, as the wind just happened to blow against him to send a shiver down his spine. _

"_Where…fuck…you?" It was definitely Vida, not that he had expected anyone else after her comment of 'Chip, if you are out there for more than thirty minutes I am hunting your ass down' when he had started out on the idiotic trip he was now on. _

"_Vida, could you repeat that?" Maybe Xander was fighting with Nick again and that was what was interfering with the call. _

"_Chip…you…me?" Yes, he dreamily thought for a moment, you and me. Best friends forever, he grinned to himself. But then the fact that a buzzing noise was coming out of his morpher overcame that musing thought. _

_He eyed his morpher, what the hell? _

"_V?" He knew that the morpher was in the form of a cell phone, but there was no way that it worked the same way, it should have 'service' everywhere…_

"_Ch-…can't…hear" _

…_right? _

_He, Charlie Chip Thorn, then proceeded to do what most members of every society did when something broke; he shook the thing that wasn't working. _

"…" _Only crinkling and buzzing was heard._

"_Fuck" Then he smacked the wet thing against his hand for a moment. _

_Still nothing…_

_So not only was he muddy and wet, Vida was going to kill him because she probably thought he had hung up on her, even though she knew he would never do such a thing. _

"_You got anything else storm?" He yelled into the sky in frustration as the rain tilted sideways into his already soaked body._

_The clouds boomed in response, he was pretty sure it was mocking him. _

"_Well fucking bring it on, IT COULDN'T GET ANY WORSE!" He would definitely curse his actions later for taunting fucking nature like that, because right as the roared words exited his mouth the fuckers of the underworld appeared. _

_Hidiacs, ten of them it seemed. _

_Well it was official, he decided as a muddy battle between him and the minions began, he fucking hated the storm and the storm fucking hated him. Even if he had taunted the hell in the sky that was floating ominously in the sky. _

_It hated him; at least he hadn't been struck by…_

_No, no, he told himself, he didn't want to evoke being zapped by jinxing himself, even if it was his element. For the way things were going, he could be fried instead of it helping him. _

_His opponents were fading fast; they were only foot soldiers so it really wasn't all that surprising and as it seemed as though he would be alone once again…_

_One of them moved and pushed him into the mud. _

_Slowly he rose to his feet, covered in the grimy stuff before glaring at the solely remaining enemy, _

"_You better fucking run" Had the monster been able to; this is where the thing's eyes were as big as dinner plates. After all, he was not a happy fellow right now. _

_For once, the monster listened to the good guys and ran away. _

_He would have given chase, to possibly rid himself of some of the frustration he was feeling by means of beating the crap out of the underworld dwelling bastard, when he realized that the thing that he had been holding in his hand was gone. And by thing, he meant his all important, life saving, powerful, can't ever lose or the wicked white witch of the mystical world would kill him, the most important weapon in his arsenal that he was never suppose to lose, MORPHER! _

_Now, he decided, was a good time to panic. _

_He could care less about the rain, the fucking COLD rain, or the STUPID fucking mud. He didn't care about those things as he searched desperately for the thing he needed to kick baddies butts in the slicken environment. _

_He was really glad that the others weren't here, due to the fact that he was currently crawling on his hands and knees (He was already muddy enough, who cared if a little more wet dirt got on him?) feeling around like a mole across the forest floor. _

_Must not panic, he took a deep breath as the minutes ticked by without sign of the morpher. _

_Must not panic… _

_Must not panic…_

_Can't panic, he thought, even if he would become a liability to the team. What if that dark side found it, what if someone got hurt protecting him? He would be the laughing stock of the ranger community, the black sheep of the many teams before them; a shame on his own friends. It would be horrible, a disgrace, and all his fault because he LOST his morpher in a damn rain storm! _

_Then there was a small, morpher sized bump in his hand. _

"_Please, please, PLEASEEEE!" He begged to the heavens as he wiped it off to find…_

"_STUPID FUCKING STORM!" _

…_a rock. _

_Throwing it over his shoulder, to hear a satisfying THUNK of it hitting a tree, he found himself hyperventilating. _

_Must not panic, he scrapped his hand over the mud. _

_Must not panic…_

_And as it began to rain harder, something he thought (and hoped to hell) wasn't possible, and there wasn't anything that even looked in the ball park of a morpher shaped thin; he decided that now was a good time to panic…_

_But before the feeling could overcome him in his slow decent into a storm induced state of madness, there was hope, in the form of a very wet flower. _

_It was white, wet, and the same damn thing he had been sent out looking for. _

_Beside it was his clean, but wet, morpher. At least it wasn't buried in a foot of mud, he though gratefully. Funny how it was in the open, but he had been looking the other way, not finding it due to that fact. _

_His small panic attack over, for the moment who knew what could come tomorrow, he proceeded to scoop both items up. The morpher because it was vital and the flower because he was not returning without it! It gave purpose to him being out there, looking like a swamp monster. At least that's what he told himself while trudging along. _

_If only the rain would go away, he thought cheerfully, his mood having risen after the discovery of his missing item. _

_Instead, it rained harder._

_But he just had to get back home, back to Rootcore; it wasn't that big of a deal that he would be up to his __**neck**__ soon… everything would be fine once he got there. _

_That would have been true, had he been able to see. _

_Unfortunately, a 'shower' of rain (if that was what a downpour was called these days) had turned into a blizzard minus the freezing temperatures. He literally could not see a foot in front of his face, flying blind into anything was in his way. Hell, he wasn't even aware that things were in his way until he hit them dead on, or at least clipped himself. _

_By the time he had gone five feet, both hips were sore from hitting shit, even though both hands were out as feelers. _

"_LET GO OF ME!" _

_Well that was most definitely not the sound of rain, he thought, before he finally found a dry place. Almost instantly he recognized the place to be the entrance to Rootcore, also known as Drago (expertly named by the girls, who had said that it had been an idea thought up by a friend of theirs [AN: Any guesses who it was? *cough* KIRA! *cough*]) who was their bouncer for any unwelcome guests. He was very effective, for a stone dragon, one roar and they were fleeing for the hills. _

_About to ascend the stairs, it occurred to him that Clare would kick his ass for bringing mud in. Weighing the pros and cons of going up to where it was warm didn't take long. _

_Fuck it he decided, as he entered the well lit room to find the others fighting. Not that fighting was exactly uncommon, Xander, Nick, and Vida argued all the time about different shit, but he found it surprising the two sides that were clashing in front of him. _

"_Maddie, be reasonable!" Nick was currently holding the blue ranger back, via two arms around the waist while the water mystic struggled against him. While it was obviously not the thing at the top of the red's list, he'd bet his morpher that the fire boy was enjoying having the blue's body against his. _

_The two were a perfect example of the theory that opposites attracted, although they didn't know it yet; even if everyone else did._

"_I am!" Madison growled back in aggression that was normally not seen, it made him wonder what the fight was about as he shifted his attention to the elder Rocca sister._

_Vida was fury filled, as normal, as she glared at Xander. The green was in front of her, blocking her path as he tried to talk her away from the door he had just come through. _

"_Move the fuck out of the way!" _

_This of course did not settle well with the pink on black haired female. But that did not deter the earth mystic as he tried to use his wonderful 'persuasive' skills to stop her from doing whatever she was trying to do. _

"_V, it's raining like mad, you can't!" With appropriate hand gestures to match, Xander made a pretty good argument. _

_If only he knew what the two sides were…_

"_I can and I will!" The pink ranger snarled, taking a step forward as the green tried to stay firm. _

"_We are __**not **__leaving Chip out there, now LET ME GO!" With that the younger sister elbowed Nick in the gut, the red still kept his grip, barely, as she struggled even harder against the leader's grip. _

_Oh, so they were fighting about him. _

"_Well that's interesting" He murmured to himself, under his breath so that the show went on. _

_It was obvious that the two sisters were concerned about his well being, which he expected after years of friendship with them, but the question on his mind was: Why were Nick and Xander fighting the two instead of helping? _

_Sure Nick was the 'bad boy' that had been a complete ass in the beginning, but he had thought that they had gotten past that. After all they had been a team for a while; it wasn't red ranger like to leave your teammates hanging. _

_And he had been friends with Xander for years, he would have bet his life that the green would have organized the search party; not resist it! _

"_You won't be able to find him even if you go out there; it's a monsoon out there!" Xander stated firmly in his 'I am not moving' tone of voice that worked on everyone…_

"_I don't care, now fucking move!" _

…_except Vida. _

_The pink was notorious for being resistant to any and all forms of pleading, convincing, and trickery; except the few times that he asked nicely. For some weird reason it always worked, even if Xander and his 'convincing' skills had already tried a moment earlier. _

"_I can't believe you two are leaving him out there!" Maddie hissed, mostly at Nick who looked shocked at the statement. Obviously it was a low blow, one that was aimed at his commitment to the team…hell, he'd be shocked too. _

_With the comment said, the red ranger quickly turned his prisoner around to grasp her by her wrists "Look, I am not letting you or Vida out there; the last thing we need are three missing rangers" _

_He felt the urge to yell "Awww, what a Kodak moment!" as the space grew quiet for a moment and the two looked deeply into the others eyes as if it was the deepest parts of their bound souls. And at that moment the two realized that they were destined for each other…he silently chuckled to himself as he narrated the scene; Vida was right when she said that he really should stop watching Soap Operas, even if he was really bored when they came on, he was getting way too dramatic for his own good. _

_At least he felt better knowing that the red and green mystics weren't leaving him out there without a good reason; the two were protecting the girls in doing so. Yes he hated the fact that there wasn't a rescue party going after him, but having the girls safe from the stupid fucking storm was much higher on his list. _

_Then Xander decided that the awkward silence had to end "Besides, Chip can take care of himself" _

_Smiles came to the others' faces; they knew it to be true, which in turn gave him a good feeling due to the fact that they believed in him. _

"_He's probably watching the storm right now" Vida said, he smirked; she knew his habits all too well. _

"_Or…" He decided to come out of the shadows, enough was enough and he wanted to get out of his muddy clothes. "…he could be soaked, covered in mud, and watching his friends fight over whether to go after him" _

"_Chip!" Maddie hesitated on hugging him before giving him a small peck on the cheek instead_

"_What took you so long mate? V was getting ready to march into the underworld" The Australian ranger grinned while poking a little fun at the pink. _

"_Well I was afraid that he had gotten attacked, you can't blame me for being worried!" The taller female shot back while giving him a small smile. _

"_Actually I did get attacked" Well that was a good idea he decided sarcastically, due to the concerned looks he was getting. _

"_What happened?" Rarely was Nick a mother hen, except when his precious Madeline scraped her knee or anything that fell into the category of Maddie's hurt, even if it was minimal, but that did not mean that the red was not capable of being an overbearing nurse figure. _

"_I kicked their asses, as usual, there was only five of them" Lying was not something that he liked to do in any way, shape, or form; but if it meant that they weren't on his case for as long, he would do it. _

"_What did I tell you? Chip can take care of himself" Xander announced once again, mostly to rub in the face of Vida that she had overreacted. _

"_Well not in the hygiene department" The pink teased while motioning to his mud covered form _

"_I fell once or twice, nothing big" He replied, while reaching a mud covered hand towards the blue ranger. _

"_Chip don't!" The ranger squealed while backing away _

_He followed with an evil grin on his face "But I thought you wanted a hug?" _

"_Not when you're dirty!" She grinned before hiding behind Nick. _

_The red looked very happy that 1) she had chosen him to hide behind and 2) that she trusted him enough to know that he would protect her. But the idea that a muddy yellow ranger, himself, was coming near him finally dawned on the bad boy's mind and reacted appropriately by trying to distract his muddy self. _

"_Did you get the root that Clare wanted?" Stupid question, but at least the red was standing his ground. _

"_Flower actually…" He drew the damned thing from his cloak and laid it on a nearby table. "…and yes, I found it, finally" _

"_That's good" The leader muttered as he continued his approach towards the two _

"_Chiiipppp" Maddie whined, while shrinking behind her protector even more_

"_Chip come on, leave the birds alone" Vida intervened while he and Xander snickered at the code word that was imbedded in the sentence. _

"_What did you call us?" Nick asked with a tint of defensiveness in his voice _

"_Birds" The pink stated factually, while he bit his lip to try and stop laughing _

"_Birds?" Maddie's poked out from behind the muscular red, before scrunching her eyebrows in confusion. _

_"Yeah, birds" Her sister replied in a calm voice, while he and Xander tried to smother their laughter._

"_These two endangered species; the fire phoenix and the sweet water jay, are the only two of their kind left. And yet they ignore each other, even though it is obvious that they are destined to repopulate" He announced lowly as though he was narrating the scene of a discovery channel film, which lead to the green clutching a table for support in order not to go to the ground laughing hysterically. Vida, who had faintly heard it, cracked a small smile, trying to desperately not alert her sister to the running joke. _

_It was something that had been suggested offhandedly by Toby, of all people; that the two looked like a ripe pair of lovebirds. Now whenever possible, they included the word 'birds' to talk to, about, or with the two. The pair were still clueless, which made it that much funnier. _

"_Just when I thought that they were normal…" The fire ranger drawled at their behavior while taking small steps back to put more space between his muddy self and Maddie. _

"_That is such an oxymoron; no power ranger is 'normal'" The blue pointed out with a smirk_

"_But they are taking it to new heights, look at them" Nick gestured towards their giggling forms, who were grinning like they were high on something as they looking from each other to the two. _

"_Whatever you say, I'm taking this to Clare" Maddie replied, briefly stepping out from behind her shield (a hot mess of exotic chocolate, as Vida had quoted Maddie saying) to pluck the white flower off the table, before walking out of the room. Nick followed, of course, but not before giving the three of them one last look of confusion. _

"_Lovey dovey birds!" Xander cackled, now that the two were gone, while still on the ground. _

"_You think they'll ever catch on?" He asked as he took on of the green ranger's hands. _

"_They'll catch on when the two finally become Mack" Vida replied as she took Xander's free hand; the two of them lifted the still snickering green ranger to his feet a moment later._

_Mack…like that was ever going to happen. One boring day, the three of them had decided to name the couple of Nick and Maddie. After the many name combinations they had tried (Nima, Mick, and ect.) they had decided on Mack. It was another thing that the birds weren't aware of, that was absolutely hilarious to see their confusion about…_

"_So that's never" The newly standing green stated _

"_It could happen" He said in optimism, true to his usually happy attitude, except when he was in the stupid fucking rain, as he used the already ruined cape on his shoulders to wipe his face off, although it only made the situation on his face worse. _

_The two looked at him with blank looks. _

_Then at each other with grins. _

_Their gazes went back to him after a moment as they snorted simultaneously in amusement. _

"_Right" The Aussie said with a smirk as he walked out of the room only to return a moment later with a towel. _

_Shedding the cape that was soaked and muddy as him, he happily accepted the fresh cotton tossed at him by the green. After a minute with the towel, his face was clear so that the smile, one that had come from being out of the rain, was clearly seen. _

"_Thanks mate" He replied while mocking the green ranger _

"_Horrid accent mate, just horrible" Xander rolled his eyes before giving him a pat on the back, before frowning that his hand came away muddy. Snatching the towel away from him, the earth mystic quickly wiped his hand off. _

_Just to screw with the guy, he decided to flick some mud at the manger of Rockporium. It hit him straight in most precious place on Xander's person…his face. _

_Silence reined supreme for a moment. _

"_Bulls eye" He snickered as Vida's mouth curled into the biggest evilly amused face he had ever seen._

"_My face!" The (sometimes) girly green screeched, before running from the room, leaving them laughing for the second time since his arrival. _

_Vida then proceeded to blindside him, giving him a tight hug; at least half of the mud that was on him transferred to him. And while he loved the contact from his best friend, it made him feel a bit guilty that she was now both wet and dirty. _

_She noticed his expression and sighs…_

"_FUCK!" _

…_then her hand connects with his face. _

_After the full force of the slap registered before echoing in his facial muscles, the image of the red spot that was on the white skin appeared in his mind. He mused that it probably looked like it did all those times that Nick, Xander, and other random strangers that pissed her off looked like when she attacked them. _

_He knew that she had anger issues; it had been a fact that he had accepted the day that they had become friends. And while he was usually invincible to it, having obtained the status over the years (the level that the red and green mystics had been demoted from); he still was fair game for her during specific times. _

_Like when he had tried to stop her from hurting Xander once, she had taken both of them down in one swoop. Or when he had mildly suggested that she should go to APA (Angry Person Anonymous), she had punched him in the shoulder with the comment of 'Do I look like I need that?' Thank god he had been smart enough not to answer THAT question. _

"_Two things…" She started as he rubbed the painful span of skin _

_Her tone was quite, like it almost never was; it put him on high alert. She was fun, but loud. Not once in a while, but always…her attitude, her style, everything was loud. And it worked for her; especially it all resulted in her being a sexy sprite in a cape…_

_YOU IDIOT! _

_He mentally bitch slapped himself, considering doing the same in real life, as he tried to block out the mental image that had showed up in his mind. His mind had been going to the gutter concerning her lately, he really wasn't sure why. The thoughts about her in that way had never crossed his mind in their long friendship, not until now. But he was not going to fuck up the relationship just because he was going crazy; she would never think of him the same way. _

_Not aware of the swirling mess called his mind, she stated the first thing on her agenda "First off, don't feel guilty about getting me a little dirty, I am not afraid of getting down and dirty" _

_I didn't think you were…his inner self, the bad side, purred seductively as the idea of her in his situation filled his vision. She would make the mud look good, he decided, like the goop was made for her. _

_BAD CHIP! His reasonable side, the side clashing for control, cracked the whip to bring him back to reality. _

"_Sorry" He blurted out; mostly apologizing for the thoughts he was having…the ones she wasn't aware of. _

_She sighed again with two hands at her temples "You're not suppose to say sorry, I already said that I didn't care" _

_She was getting irritated; she was so hot when she got mad…AHHHHH! He had to stop himself, maybe if he tried to sell his point that apologizing was perfectly acceptable then it would go away! _

"_But I…" He was about to retaliate when one finger was pressed to his lips _

_This time he prevent his mind from going dark places, barely, as she spoke "Not another word, let's get to number two" _

_He just nodded; the finger was withdrawn to his disappointment. _

_She looked straight into his eyes before growling the next sentence "If you ever scare me like that again, I will personally kill you" _

"_As oppose to what, hiring Nick and Xander as assassins?" The statement popped out almost automatically as a smile appeared on his face. Although his expression might have had something to do with the fact that she had been concerned for his well being. Even though he knew she would have been, it still felt good to know that he had been on her mind. _

"_Chip, that's not what…" He cut her off, which might have not been the best idea. _

"_Because you know they would make the worse assassins ever. Seriously, they would probably kill themselves rather than me" The seriousness in his tone must have gotten to her, because she let out a deep beautiful laugh from her soul. _

_He felt some of the cold from his limbs dissipate as every cell in his body melted. _

"_True, very true" She grinned madly _

"_Now, if only they knew that" He replied _

_Then her thoughts, the bullet points she was trying to drill into his mind, came back and she turned serious once again. Silence came between them for a moment before her sweet voice filled the room "Please don't" _

"_Don't what?" The tell tale signs of tears building were in her eyes, the grin fell to the floor that had been on his face, as he drew a bit closer to her. _

"_Don't disappear like that; there were so many things that could have happened and they all went through my mind" _

_By habit, and instinct, he wrapped her in a hug. _

_While he had been out romping through the forest, cursing the mud, the storm, and everything in between, she had been afraid. It made him feel even guiltier to know that he had caused her to be anxious, even if it wasn't on purpose. _

_Once of his main goals of being a ranger was to support his teammates, which meant that he did cause his best friend to fear for him. And even though he wanted himself to be on her mind; this wasn't the way he wanted that to happen. _

_She feared for him and even if he said not to, she would, it was pointless to try to alter her views. _

_Instead he just told the truth. _

_One whispered strand of words left his mouth to go into her ear, the perfect mix of comfort and support that he had to make sure that she always knew from this moment on. _

"_I'm here V …" _

_Fear be damned as long as she knew that. _

"…_I'll always be here" _

* * *

What the…

That what in his mind as it swirled and descended into being a hot mess from the overloading fact that his leader had fled the scene after being in the kitchen for one minute at best.

He was a rational person, so he tried to see the situation logically. They had gone to the store, decided that the red ranger of the group (even though it might have been more beneficial for all three of them to ask, but NO it would be more MEANINGFUL for the powerful red ranger to do it. It occurred to him afterwards that even though he thought Conner could do it, it wasn't like the red needed any more of an ego) would ask for the three new comers to join their (somewhat) merry band of a ranger team. Then they had entered the home of the man that was sometimes mature, sometimes scary, and sometimes having a mental breakdown to go to the kitchen…

And then hell had occurred.

Actually, silent chaos had occurred and then Conner had disappeared. He would have gone after him instead of staring in shock at the place where the red ranger had been, but his dino power unfortunately didn't make him that fast.

Having the human equivalent of shielding scales on his forearms was a very nice thing, but once in a while he wished for a more offensive gem power than being able to block attacks coming his way.

Speaking of powers, Conner and his super speed self was probably miles away from now. No one would be able to chase him down except if they used the Raptor Cycles or the Dino ATVs. He could also try to use his Hovercraft Cycle so it would be easier to spot him. But the problem with any of those forms of transportation was that the red would hear them coming, and with the way that Conner become scarce; he doubted that the soccer player would be in the mood to talk to anyone.

But his attention at the moment wasn't on how Conner was, or where he was, the red would wander home eventually; like the golden retriever that chased after a cat for hours before coming back. McKnight would be fine on his own; he just needed some time to cool down after…

…

…

…

…well that's a first, he thought, he couldn't come up with a reason.

Maybe that was because he didn't know what the hell had just happened, even though it had occurred right in front of him! The explanation was currently placed higher on his to do list than the MIA red ranger. Some might think that to be strange, that he placed an answer higher than his best friend, but the way he thought of it was: If he was going to help Conner, he had to know what the fuck he was dealing with!

Turned out that Trent had the same thought process going on, because as he opened his mouth, so did the white ranger so that they both spoke simultaneously moments after their red friend disappeared.

"What the hell just happened?"

It was obvious that something had happened, even though nothing had been said. He focused on Tori, that's where his part of the question had been directed, who for some reason had held Conner's gaze for a full moment in time, the moment that just happened to be the one that occurred right before the redhead vanished. Obviously she had something to do with it, it was logical that he was going to talk to her first.

The blue female seemed to be in a daze of shock, staring off into space with no concept that he had just asked her a question.

"Tori" He snapped his fingers which snapped her out of it and got Kira on his case

"Ethan!" The yellow hissed, although there was a small tint of confusion in his name

Rolling his eyes, he looked back to the ninja of the group, who was walking towards the door…

Then his mind caught up with the statement as it sunk it.

WHAT?

She was walking away from them, and she knew the answer they wanted!

But Trent, who had been paying a bit more attention than he had, was there to block her path. The white male was a few inches taller than her, but it didn't help his case as she tried to push past him.

"I am the only one that can keep up with him" She grumbled sadly, as though the entire situation was her fault. Which it probably was; which was why he wanted an answer of what communicated had transpired between her and the red in those few moments of silence.

"Let her go" Both he and Trent turned to see Dr. O giving the order.

He really didn't want to, but it was probably for the best.

Seeming to be torn, same as he was, the white ranger finally moved out of her path.

The door hung open to the empty space that had once held Tori, they all looked at each other. Conner was gone, Tori was gone, and they…

Something had happened, but what?

…didn't know a god damn thing.

* * *

Reviews? Please!

So will it all be explained to Conner?

Will the boys be murdered by Clare?

And what the hell is Koragg doing?

FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!


	25. EXTRA: MYSTIC FORCE

*Edges onto stage*

Hiya!

So this is not a chaptterrr *awkward laugh*

Alright I admit it I am procrastinating...but I was gone to a beach for a week and there was no WIFI! Nor was there any internet at all, it was horrible!

Anyway, I'm back and currently working on the next chapter...*checks clock* oh wow, it's almost midnight, how coincidental. But I'm really tired so I'll work on it tommorow. SO DON'T PLAN ON KILLING ME JUST YET!

AN: Yes, I was on Youtube while writing these, so there are more musical ones than on the other lists.

I hope you enjoy, this is the last of the lists...although I have an idea for something else of the EXTRAS variety.

ENJOY!

* * *

**NONOS FOR MYSTICS! **

* * *

1. Do not insult the capes.

-EVER.

-Especially in the presence of Chip, you will have Vida coming to kick your ass.

2. Do not ask why Nick is 20 and the others are younger (Xander being 18, Chip being 17, and the girls being 16) when they all look the SAME age! [AN: This comes from a legit website, its might be true!]

-Even though you really want to know why it's that way.

3. Telling Vida that the pink streak in her hair makes her look girly is a bad idea.

4. Do not hint that 'opposites attract' to two specific mystics.

-Even if they are being stupidly oblivious.

-*cough* NICK/MADDIE FOREVER! *cough*

5. Chip's zord is NOT Big Bird.

-Even if it does remind you of your sesame street days.

6. Do not ask why Necrolai's wings are on her head.

7. Yes, trains can fly, do not ask otherwise!

8. Do not question some of the accessories/enchantments that the team has.

-Rangers + boxing gloves = Mystic Rocky Balboa?

-Bigger muscles, like Xander needed even more of an ego.

-Train tickets instead of spells, like it wasn't weird enough already.

9. Yes, the Solar Knight has a magic carpet, a magic lamp and a giant cat.

-Do not ask why that is.

-And no it's not weird, why would it be?

10. Do not ask Uddonna/ Leanbow who Nick's REAL parents are.

-Even if Nick looks nothing like the two of them.

-You will get burned, literally, for suggesting such a thing.

11. Do not call Nick a 'Fire baby'.

-Nor can you call Vida a 'Girly pixie'.

-Dittio for 'Sparky', even if Chip likes it.

-Muttering the words 'Earth flunky' around Xander is not a good idea.

-Same with saying 'fire lover' around Maddie.

12. Sprite is not Vida's favorite drink.

-Even if her zord is a Sprite.

-She will not laugh at the pun; she will kick your ass.

13. Daggeron is not Aladdin.

-And Jenji is not Abu.

-Nor is the cat Genie.

14. Do not invent a new villain to cause a Teamup with Ninja Storm/ Dino Thunder/ SPD.

-Even if it would be epic.

-Come on, NINJA FORCE or MYSTIC THUNDER or MYSTIC SPACE FORCE would be an awesome catch phrase after the massive colored explosions.

-Don't you deny it, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO SEE IT!

15. Do not ask Chip why his zord is not just called a bird instead of a Garuda.

-And don't keep arguing with him that it's not a bird even though a Garuda is a big mystical bird.

16. Do not play 'You're the Inspiration by Chicago' when Maddie/Nick or Chip/Vida are in the same room.

-Nor should you suggest that the guys sing it to their ladies.

-And NO fanfiction writers should EVER sing this to ANY and ALL teams of power rangers, even if it is true.

17. Do not get the song 'Run the world (Girls) by Beyonce' stuck in the girls' heads. It will result in aggression towards the guys.

-Although it may be entertaining to watch the blue and pink sing it.

-Same for any and all female rangers.

19. Do not give the mystics M and Ms.

-They will fight over the colors.

-Vida will be pissed that there are no pink.

20. Do not suggest for Chip to go hunt Big Foot/Loch Ness Monster/Jersey Devil/Any other giant mythical monster.

-He might actually do it.

21. Do not paint Nick's motorcycle.

-Especially not aqua blue, although he might just like it.

22. Do not hide every mirror in Briarwood.

-Xander might just die.

23. Just because Xander is the green earth ranger, does not mean that he is a good gardener; do not get him a flower for his birthday; he will more than likely forget about it in short kill it.

24. Do not ask Nick to create fire so you can roast marshmallows.

-Or hotdogs.

-Or any other camping food or any food in general.

25. Do not ask Daggeron who knighted him.

-And do not tell him that the mystic mother is not an acceptable response.

26. Do not introduce Vida to any of the other pinks.

-It might just end in a mystic male's death.

27. Maddie and Nick are not 'birds'.

-And the species 'Fire Phoenix' and 'Sweet Water Jay' do not exist.

-Even if you really want them to.

28. Riding a unicorn does not decrease your masculinity and/or make you gay, do not say otherwise!

-Ain't that right Nick?

29. Do not mention the 'turning into a tree' incident around Xander.

-Same for 'turning into a frog/fish/sheep/ect' for Clare.

30. Do not revive Imperious just to tell him what an honor-less bastard he is.

-Even though Koragg/ Leanbow is all for it.

31. Do not suggest for Vida/ Maddie to shake their pom-poms.

-And do not make them listen to the Missy Elliot song when they have no idea what you are talking about.

-You will either be A) Alienated by the mystic girls or B) be laughing hilariously when they actually do it.

32. Just because Chip's power is lightning does not mean that he can go up in a tall metal building during a storm. Do not encourage/suggest him to do so.

-Same for Nick during wildfires, Xander during earthquakes or mudslides, Vida during tornados/hurricanes, or Maddie during typhoons or tidal waves.

33. Chip is not Bruce Almighty and his will is not done!

-Well maybe.

34. Do not suggest for Chip to invent his version of puppy dog eyes.

-Ditto with Dustin.

35. Do not question why Imperious took over for Morticon when he doesn't have a brain.

-Especially when you can see through his mummified head a bit.

36. Matoombo is not a giant animated cotton swab; do not say that he is.

37. Do not call the Master a 'fucked up' cousin to the Kraken.

-Even though he definitely is.

38. Do not ask why the shoulder pads on the white snow ranger's suit are so big.

39. Yes, the Mystic Mother has dreadlocks, do not question why.

-And no, she has not had botox or plastic surgery.

-Also; she is not on crack.

40. Telling The Tribunal of Magic that Lady Gaga stole their costumes would not be a good idea.

-Nor should you tell the black one that he has anger issues.

41. Do not ask why Nick has his own personal megazords as his titan. Or why he has two morphers. Or why his parents think he was dead/missing. Or why he's such a bastard in the beginning with his 'problems'. And don't ask why the hell he has a personal pet dragon.

-And 'because I'm the red ranger' does not count even if it is a decent excuse.

42. Do not forcefully demand...err suggest for Chip to sing 'If you were gay' to Xander.

-Even though it would be hilariously disturbing.

43. Do not call the Hidiacs FUKS.

42. Do not convince Toby that music is an element.

-And do not train him to be the purple 'Musical Mystic Maestro Ranger' with the power of sound that has a giant music note for a zord.

45. Do not switch out Nick's motorcycle for a tricycle.

46. Tickling the Ten Terrors is suicide, do not do it.

47. There are three kinds of known spells. There are Ranger Spells, Dark Spells, and Neutral Spells; do not try to find out if there are Drunk Spells, Prank Spells, or any other idiotic categories of spells.

48. Do not teach the stone dragon, the one that's the entrance to Rootcore, to refer to anyone (especially Nick because it'll really piss him off) as Dum-Dum.

-Also, don't teach him to say "YOU DUM-DUM, YOU BRING ME GUM GUM?"

-Nor you should tell him to interrupt people with " My dum dum wants to speak!"

49. Do not do a weird crossover with Harry Potter and the Mystics.

-I think we know who would win.

AND MORE IMPORTANTLY OF ALL:

50. Do not make a list of things not to do to the mystics.

That just pisses them off.

* * *

REVIEWS? Please and thank you!

Next chapter is coming, don't form a mob just yet!

Question though: You like?


	26. United

**Chapter 23, here at last. **

**No lists, excuses, none of that shit. I'm late in giving you loyal readers this and I apologize. Anyway…**

Ninjas, mystics, nor dinos belong to me!

Please R2 **(Read and Review)** and thanks for doing so!

AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.

ANN: I don't own the song Shake Shake Shake Senora by Harry Belefonte, although I do own it's slightly random use in this story. But hopefully it works…

**Hey buddy! You, ya you! **

**You wanna buy a chapter? I got chapters here real cheap! **

**All ya gotta do is gimmie a review and you'll see the chapter soon enough. **

**Get it?**

**Got it?**

**Good. **

**Now, ya'll ready for this? **

ENJOY!

* * *

As the drama of the girls unfolded in another city, unknown to the two teams missing said females, the males prepared for the worst.

The worst was a cocktail of one part female and one part hell on earth, shaken like a massive earthquake, not stirred.

All eight members of the masculine half of their species had seen it before. It was an event that they had seen; after all, it came with being teammates….no, friends with women. It was the side that came to show itself when the good girl was banished and the darker side came out to play.

Each and every male, ranger or civilian, knew of it.

It, the emotion that you NEVER wanted your partner, teammate, friend, assistant, whatever she was, to feel.

It came from an attitude; which Vida was a perfect example of. Being aggressive was something that came with not backing down, especially when you had another to protect. This was why the pink in question started verbally beating at a customer who just happened to be looking at the lower part of her sister's back. Some called it over kill; she called it 'weeding' out the bad apples. Too bad Nick hadn't been there, she might have just 'weeded' him too. But no, the boys came in just to see her, in slow motion, launch herself at the man. Five minutes, a black eye, and bloody nose later, she was being held back firmly by Chip and Nick, Maddie was trying to calm a distressed Toby down, while Xander tried to charm the guy out of pressing charges; all while she was growling. In her opinion the day had been a productive one, even though the others disagreed to great length.

It came from being offended; like how Tori had nearly buried a random surfer nine feet deep in the sand for calling her a "weak, little bitch who couldn't surf worth anything". Fortunately for the man, the other ninjas had not heard the comment; so not only did they not assist in the premature funeral, they held her back. Only later did they find out when she ranted furiously, they were long gone from the beach, but that didn't stop Hunter and Shane from hunting the bastard down to "talk" to him while the others calmed her down with compliments of her surfing.

It came from stress; as Maddie had shown when work, ranger duties, and the boys' loud behavior came smashing together. The shock on the faces of the other Mystics had been unimaginable when out of the blue their sweet, usually silent, Maddie started screaming at the top of her lungs at the inanimate object known as her camera. "STUPID, WHY WON'T YOU WORK?" None of them moved while she roared and raved about everything, before falling silent once more. Then the black haired witch had turned slowly to meet their gazes asking what the hell they were staring ask. Long story short, they all avoided upsetting the blue for a while after that, while making sure she was as calm as possible.

It came from concern; like how Kira, out of concern for the three girls, was going to rip the boys' organs out in a pissed off rage. Their blood was going to spill, that much was guaranteed. And that would happen even if the Dinos were on their side, even though it was a gamble when it came to that. Even though they wanted to believe that the males would help their cause, it was very possible that Kira had as much influence as their girls did…

Did they still want to go?

Of course, that which was awaiting them (pain, more than likely death) was irrelevant compared to the fact that they might get a glimpse. One minuscule look at a passing glow of blonde hair or one image of dark irises against a white backdrop of the eyes. One growled word, one shy smile, one eye roll at their immature behavior; it awaited them, even if the world was sent to the devil's land a moment afterwards.

Would the moment last?

Of course not, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't go. It would only be a passing second, perhaps sixty of them if they were lucky. Everything good had to come to an end, usually to be replaced with something better but not this time, to be eclipsed by the pain of being yelled at by a furious female.

Not that it mattered, the moment would give them the strength to push through and make it all better. Or at least that's what they hoped…

Speaking of furious females, he gulped before slanting his eyes downwards to avoid one's glare.

He glanced at the feet of the others, all seven pairs of which were twitching. Most were in the different stages of tapping, while two were just rocking from side to side. The pace varied, a few going at a turtle's pace, while a few going much faster like they were keeping up with a rock song's drum beat…

His hands' opposites were still as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that they KNEW where the girls WERE but instead of GOING there, they were SITTING on their asses while waiting for a female under the influence of IT to 'talk' to them.

What a screwed up situation, he sighed before pushing his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose.

She had been glaring at them for the last five minutes, but not a word had left her mouth.

It was like she was thinking about she was going to say, so that she didn't sound like a ranting idiot when 'talking' to them. While he was glad for that, he listened to enough babbling without her in the equation, they, he didn't have time for this.

He rather be speeding way over the speed limit towards Reefside with the others telling him to go faster as the thought of apologizing for the others idiocy to Tori going through his mind, than be sitting on the steps of the tree version of Ops.

His logical mind was not happy with the situation, which was ludicrously incompatible with his To-Do List.

A list which was:

1. Apologize to Tori.

Even though he didn't need to apologize, except maybe for the fact that he didn't slaughter the assholes responsible when he had a chance and/or argue with his father even more forcefully to find more compatible (and respectful) ninjas for the morphers.

Not that that would have made a different, plus it wasn't like there had been a choice other than the one that had been made. Shane and Dustin were her best friends, and all the other ninjas had been kidnapped by his sadistic uncle. And besides, he wouldn't have been able to do anything about that brooding idiot bastard, even if he could go back in time and bash the air and earth rangers over the head like he wanted to.

That reminded him…

As they were in close proximity to him, he carried out the idea.

"OW!"

"DUDE!"

"SHIT!"

The three ninjas, who had been slapped on the side of the head by his Asian hand, glared at him before wincing as Blake took notice of the movement and repeated the movement. She stopped glaring for a moment, the others in the room looking at them in interest as the navy ninja smacked each offending head, giving an especially hard hit for his elder brother.

"Blake" Hunter huffed the name in irritation, while he and the other two rubbed their heads, trying to get the pain to go away faster.

"Don't you dare complain" He replied for the younger Bradley, who gave him a grateful look. While their teammates were morons, at least another person still had their sanity.

"We're not" Shane snapped back

"You didn't have to hit us" Dustin grumbled darkly, which they all noticed.

The dirt boy usually saw the brighter side of things, as his ranger color suggested which went along his happy go lucky attitude. As the hyper one of the group, he made sure that the energy of the group was light hearted, even after a loss. He balanced out the darker and focused members, namely Hunter and Shane, by being bubbly and a bit attention deficit sometimes

For the attitude to be somber, as it seemed like it was now, was rare and unsettling.

And while next thing on his list was:

2. Kill Shane/Hunter/Dustin.

He felt his anger and irritation evaporating at the sight of the sunshine ranger (that was the sparingly used nickname that had been assigned to Dustin, because he had the power to make people feel 'warm and fuzzy' as Tori had called it. They had gone along with it, jokingly teasing him even though he had loved it) sinking a big deeper into sadness over the whole issue.

Something had to be done, because while escaping the thinking girl's grasp, Clare was her name right?, and driving like he was possessed to face the blockade that Kira definitely would have set up, Dustin came first.

And while he didn't want to forgive them just yet, they had to be united when they went into the lion's…err…Ptera's den or they would be ripped to shreds and it would all be for nothing. Have a depressed ranger, especially one that was his friend, was not a good thing.

"Sorry dude" The navy ranger said, recognizing the same thing that he had; that they were losing him, even if just a little bit. That couldn't happen, and it wouldn't…

He really didn't want to do this, he hated the idea. But it would cheer Dustin up; there was no doubt that it would. He knew the lyrics inside and out from the millions of time that it had been played in Ops, the van, EVERYWHERE that Dustin had been for a week or so. Needless to say that he had lost his sanity.

But it was the quickest and easiest way that he could think have to not only make Dustin smile but cheer up the whole group. It was either that or giving the yellow a hug, he hated touching other people…

Something had to be done and since Tori wasn't here to do it, she was the one to usually cheer Dustin up, somebody had to step up. While he would of never been in this situation if the three idiots (one of which he was trying to cheer up) hadn't hurt the blue in the first place. But that was the past, time to focus on the present.

Here goes nothing…

He almost laughed, settling for a sly grin as he started humming, the utterly shocked (and slightly disturbed faces) of his teammates becoming amusing as the tune sunk it and recognition of what was happening entered their minds and stuck.

The others on the other hand, who he identified as colors out of habit (it was easier to do that than remember all the names as he did ranger history research), were slightly confused….

"What the hell is he doing?" The green mystic whispered, not so quietly, to the other two.

"Who knows" The red one, also known as IAN in his mind (Idiot, Asshole, Nick), muttered before turning to the yellow one who was tapping his feet to give bass to the tune.

Noticing his teammate's stares, the yellow, Chip, looked back at them "What? You know it's a good song"

Then, even though he didn't want to, he found his voice. This is for Dustin, he told himself, trying to justify singing in front of people. He never sung, despite the fact that Tori encouraged him, hell he didn't even sing in the shower! Hopefully Shane would take over in a minute, or somebody with a better voice than him!

But until then…

"_Shake, shake, shake, Senora, shake your body line_

_Shake, shake, shake, Senora, shake it all the time_

_Work, work, work, Senora, work your body line_

_Work, work, work, Senora, work it all the time" _

He watched as the somewhat sad frown Dustin had been wearing reversed to its smiling and just plain **awesome**brother that made him smile wider as he went on.

By this time, Blake had taken over the humming, the sound mixing in with the other yellow's beats, letting him focus on the words he knew by heart due to Dustin's obsession with the song when he discovered it from the movie Beetle Juice.

"_My girl's name is Senora_

_I tell you friends, I adore her_

_And when she dances, oh brother!_

_She's a hurricane in all kinds of weather" _

He didn't need to look to know that he wasn't the only one with a happy smile, especially as the air ranger's slightly deeper voice joined in to balance his. Thank god, at least he wasn't alone going into the chorus.

"_(Jump in de line, rock your body in time) OK, I believe you!_

_(Jump in de line, rock your body in time) OK, I believe you!_

_(Jump in de line, rock your body in time) OK, I believe you!_

_(Jump in de line, rock your body in time) Whoa! _

_Shake, shake, shake, Senora, shake your body line_

_Shake, shake, shake, Senora, shake it all the time_

_Work, work, work, Senora, work your body line_

_Work, work, work, Senora, work it all the time" _

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the formally furious female smile at him, like the whole situation (maybe even one she hadn't wanted to be in?) had been diffused by his humiliating idea.

"Well this is interesting…" The red one said with a raised eyebrow

"Oh shut it, you know you love this song…just like Maddie does" The last part was a bit quieter, but still got a look from the fire boy as Xander started to move his body slightly to the rhythm while "Bum, bum, ba-dum da- da dum" ing along with the navy's humming.

The red rolled his eyes, although the tune calmed and reminded him of better times. Before he could stop himself, he was humming along while waiting for the next lyrics to come, knowing that he would sing along just like many times before.

"_You can talk about Cha Cha_

_Tango, Waltz, or the Rumba_

_Senora's dance has more title_

_You jump in the saddle_

_Hold on to de bridle!" _

By this time, his green self was ready to pull out and leave the singing to Shane. But a look from the crimson ranger as he joined in made him change his mind. It wasn't a glare, but instead a 'You started it, finish it' kind of thing. He had already made a fool of himself, even though the others would disagree, why not? He rolled his eyes, before continuing with the whole gang, plus mystics, plowed into the chorus…

"_(Jump in de line, rock your body in time) OK, I believe you!_

_(Jump in de line, rock your body in time) Rock your body, child!_

_(Jump in de line, rock your body in time) Somebody, help me!_

_(Jump in de line, rock your body in time) Whoa!_

Shake, shake, shake, Senora, shake your body line

_Shake, shake, shake, Senora, shake it all the time (Whoa)_

_Work, work, work, Senora, work your body line (Yep)_

_Work, work, work, Senora, work it all the time!" _

"Who knew this would happen?" Uddonna said happily that not only were the two teams not fighting, they were sharing a song. Sure, it was unorthodox, but who cared. It was a nice sight to see, plus her body felt less tense with the familiar song…

"No one, but it's a very good development" The solar knight smirked watching his three students come alive for the first time since the girls had left. The song was unfamiliar, but it was definitely catchy. He'd have to ask the name of it when they were done.

He watched as the next lines began, the yellows taking control enthusiastically.

Jumping up from his seat, the lion zord ranger shook his shoulders while singing "_Senora, she's a sensation" _

_"The reason for aviation" _Chip continued before rising to sway along with the other yellow.

_"And fellas, you got to watch it" _Dustin said winking at Cam happily.

The green ranger grinned humbly at the signal, very satisfied with his efforts to cheer the yellow and the team up.

Mission accomplished on both accounts.

_"When she winds up, she bottom, she go like a rocket!" _The mystic finished before they all roared into the chorus…

"_(Jump in de line, rock your body in time) OK, I believe you!_

_(Jump in de line, rock your body in time) Hoist those guns aleetle higher!_

_(Jump in de line, rock your body in time) Humpin' jiminy!_

_(Jump in de line, rock your body in time) Whoa oh oh oh!"  
_

And as the last line winded down, laughter replaced the tune.

[AN: Yeah, I know, a bit random. But go along with it, it's a good and catchy song. If you don't know it, look it up on YouTube. It's awesome! On with the story!]

They all turned to look at Clare, who was grinning at them madly.

"So do you do this all the time?" She took a ragged breathe, trying to calm down, before asking the question.

"Oh course!" Dustin replied smirking, a tint of sarcasm in the words.

"And you know we do" Nick added, with a small twinkle in his eye.

"Really? You're such a softy" Hunter teased, the others tensing at what reaction the other red would have.

The other mystics were worried; no one got really got away with calling Nick a softy, except for Maddie. But they ALL knew why that was…

The ninjas, on the other hand, felt the blood start to pump as there was a lull of silence. If Nick was anything like their reds, he wasn't going to take being called 'softy' well. This meant another brawl, just like what would have happened if Shane had been called that by Hunter.

The seven rangers not involved tensed, ready to break up a fight that was expected to happen.

Instead there was a chuckle "Last time I check, you were singing too, so that makes us even. So you calling me softy is like the pot calling the kettle black."

Seeing that the danger had passed, both teams relaxed. The crimson wonder said "Well, you got me there"

"Yes I do. Besides, if enjoying myself means I'm a softy, then I rather be a softy than a hardass…" The dragon zord user was cut off by his own teammate

"Like you used to be?" Xander raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement and relief in his eye.

Nick said nothing, just grinned slyly.

Chip shook the tan's man shoulder with a message of 'Welcome back man' in the strong but gentle movements.

"Who says I'm not still?" At the sentence, the entire room let out snorts of amusement, proving that the question was not worth answering.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, you're still very much an asshole" Cam added in

"Makes me feel so much better" The red scowled while speaking sarcastically.

"Every red ranger is" Blake said, his teammates joining Nick in screwing up their faces.

"Your brother is mean, even if it's true" Shane huffed in fake annoyance to the darker shade of red.

"I know, Blake's such an asshole" Hunter grinned slightly

"I do take after my big bwother" Biting their lips, the adults in the room tried not to laugh.

The other rangers didn't care as much, Shane leading off the laughter with all the other ninjas joining in a moment later. Save Cam, who was a bit too conservative, but instead just smiled widely.

"If we weren't in someone else's house, I would kick your ass" The dirty blonde growled

Blake just stuck out his tongue in a rare exhibit of childishness.

Letting out a breath, it became apparent that the crimson thunder was going to jump and brawl with the shorter one of the duo when one sentence stopped everything.

"Wow, you guys must have really fucked up"

A steady tone of voice of the youngest female in the room spoke the sentence, which caused them all to look at her.

"Clare!" A shocked Uddonna gasped.

Her assistant, and niece, rarely cursed. While the others did at most times, her shy family member only cussed when a hot potion hit her skin on accident or she dropped something. So the sentence, to be said, plain as day was somewhat of a shock to her.

"Pardon my language…" She said softly, before her voice grew a bit stronger "What did you guys do?"

She didn't know the story behind what happened on either occasion and her thoughts had turned to that during the sing along. While they had hurt the girls, there was no reason to be so murderous towards them when she had no idea what was going on. While she knew the mystics (especially Nick) could be bastardly when they wanted to, they were good guys. Honest, protective, loyal….to an extent of course, but they tried their best.

But for the other group of five rangers, the traits seemed to fit, but she had no idea about them. That had been the reason why she had been so much on guard in the beginning, but during the course of time they had together their true colors seemed to show. They didn't seem like heart breakers, well at least not to their friends. Thing was that they were here for that very reason; a choice that seemed to caused so much pain. Their emotions on the subject seemed to match those that were truly sorry.

Not that she shouldn't be mad, but if they were so bastardly like she assumed, why did the five come all this way, ATTACK another ranger team (although god knows Nick had something to do with it), and throw all common sense out the window? If they really didn't care, they wouldn't have come.

But, there they were, right in front of her.

Five sets of tapping feet, five pairs of eyes trained on her.

"We…" It came from the yellow of the older team, who seemed to age and lose energy with the one word. Dryly taking a staggered breath, he registered the hand on his shoulder which came from Chip. While the other ninjas seemed a bit wary of the touch, they watched as the redhead pulled Dustin back to where he could sit. Without resistance, the earth boy took his seat, allowing the hand to remain as a comforting gesture before continuing. "We betrayed her trust, her faith in us"

Nothing needed to be elaborated on, no details needed to be told. As she stood there looking into the dark brown eyes of the man, she felt herself changing sides from where she had put herself due to gender and assumptions.

"So did we" Chip bowed his head, as the last moments of Vida came back…

_"I FOUND HER CRYING HER EYES OUT, DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT MADE ME FEEL!" _

All he had done was cower, instead of shaking her by the shoulders and telling her that he was sorry, that he never meant that, none of them did…

She had just stared at them, that blank stare that had sent a shiver down his spine.

_"No…I felt horrible that I believed my friends' were better than that, that I had trusted the three of you!" _

Then he had let her walk out the door, and out of his life. And the last memory he had of her was of her showing her disappointment in them, in _him. _Worst of all, what did she have of him? She had the image of him cowering instead of owning up to a mistake. God, what a wuss he was; what about all those other times when he had stopped her anger, clasping her fists and telling her to breathe? Why had he not done that then?

Not a reason came to mind, he wished that someone would punch him. Maybe he could ask Nick…

"No, we didn't" His red spat out bitterly, glaring at him as they met gazes. At first he felt anger fill him, the same that he was being stared at with. But then it hit him; Nick wasn't angry with his yellow self, the red ranger was pissed at himself. If anyone wanted to murder someone, it was Nick, the victim to be his dark skinned self. But why? Then the answer was given on a silver platter of Nick's soul. "I broke her heart"

If the quiet in the room could have dropped more, it damn sure did.

"Then I guess we have more in common than we thought" Hunter sighed, breaking the nothingness by giving a look of sympathy to his color brother.

The younger red raised an eyebrow in curiosity, giving back a 'thank you' in the glance.

"We're assholes and we broke the most important member on our team" The air red filled in for his darker counterpart, knowing that it was the answer that they all, especially the newest red, wanted to hear.

"At least you're brave enough to admit that…" Daggeron said in his comforting tone, one that he knew would ease the guilt plaguing the three leaders. He had known the original red mystic red, and despite the time and cultural differences, the pressure was the same that Nick and the other two were feeling at a moment. Even if it had nothing to do with them, even though it had EVERYTHING to do with them, they would have felt bad because they were the reds. The red ranger, the leader, the first line of defense for the team; the person that knew the battle plan, who was ready for anything.

And to be the ones to shatter the very person they were drawn to protect, another thing that came with the color other than an ego bigger than the fucking universe, they would be questioning themselves. That was what did not need to happen, the teams needed their reds.

As the sentence soaked in, he cleared his throat and continued "…but that is only one part of your attitude, the qualities such as loyalty, bravery…"

"More like stupidity, running into battle without a fucking plan" Blake interrupted, accusingly pointing at the thunder and air red rangers, knowing that it was true from the many times it had happened.

"There's also being thick skulled" Xander added, as the golden knight grinned as the teams took over his mission.

"Like you aren't" Nick muttered in a slightly teasing tone

"Reds are extremely aggressive as well" The green Samurai stated factually

"They always have to be the alpha male" Uddona pointed out, knowing that her husband had been the same way, even though he had tried to suppress it.

"It comes with the leader position, what can I say?" Shane shot back

"Which is why those two fight all the time" Dustin thumbed at the dirty blonde and skateboarder, who rolled their eyes at him.

"But they're also soft!" All eyes went to Clare, who was grinning happily.

"Soft? Hell no" Hunter scoffed in horror

"Awww, come on, you don't remember that one time that you played those arcade games for hours that one weekend, even when the rest of us couldn't, just to get enough combined tickets to get that giant stuffed dolphin Tori wanted?" The yellow ninja fluttered his eyelashes at them to make his point.

"She nearly hugged the stuffing out of it, and you two, when you gave it to her" The glasses wearing green commented with a small smile.

"Well she wanted it; it wasn't like we were leaving without it!" The crimson ranger snapped back

"Softies" Cam 'coughed'.

"That wasn't being soft, we we're just being…" The airhead began to defend his and Hunter's honor when he was cut off…

"Softies!" The younger thunder ranger cut in, getting a glare from the two reds.

"Your brother is an asshole" Shane hissed

"I know" Hunter cracked a knuckle, ready to murder his dear adopted little brother

"Oh, and remember that one time when you rode your motorcycle out to the airport and argued with the security people for three hours until they finally let you look in Maddie's bag so you could get her camera." Chip voiced the story while looking evilly at his red ranger.

"He did what?" Dustin tilted his head while waiting for an explanation.

"The girls had gone to New York for the weekend and when they got back, Maddie's bag was held by security…"

"Idiots" Nick added in a annoyed voice

The redhead rolled his eyes before going on "…for some stupid reason. Thing was that she had her wickedly expensive camera in it and they wouldn't let her get it out. So Nicky here…" The red mystic cringed at the stupid nickname, but barely let it register on his face "...after hearing Vida rant and Maddie get teary over it, rode out to the airport. Then he argued with the security officers for three hours before finally being able to get the damn thing."

"Pain in the ass" The dark haired fire bender grumbled

"But you know you loved when Maddie hug the hell out of…" Nick smacked Xander upside the head

"I did what I needed to make sure that Vida didn't kill someone, that's all" The red excused himself with the sentence.

"Yeah right" The green groaned.

The yellows were both laughing by this time, the others chuckling.

"Since you all seem to be getting along, how about we make a deal?" All eyes went to Clare.

"A deal?" Chip asked in interest…

"Yes…" She took a deep breath before looking at them fiercely; they all tensed at the look.

They really hoped that IT wasn't back…

"You all get your asses to Reefway…"

"Reefside" Cam corrected, as was his nature

She glared at him, before continuing "…apologize to them and please for the love of god don't fuck that up. You all seem like you really want to make things right…"

"We do!" Dustin feverishly replied, speaking for all with the two words

"…then make sure they know that" She finished smoothly but forcefully

Eight heads nodded, all of the bodies attached rising to get ready to move and go.

"And in exchange, there will be no big speech…"

"Thank god" Xander exhaled, grateful that more time and brain cells weren't going to be wasted.

"…and I won't hunt your asses down and gut you where you stand. Understand?" All the rangers cringed and gulped before nodding their heads slowly.

Then she gave them one last smile, and a hug for both yellows, before going back to her caldron to work "Good luck then"

Dusting themselves off, from their dive in the dirt earlier, each ranger looked to the other team.

"We both fucked up, how about a truce?" Shane had his eyes trained on the red mystic, hand out stretched.

If they were going to go face Kira, the more people they had on their side, the better. Even though it came down to them having slightly different objectives, they could easily help each other.

Besides, it was their duty as rangers to help their fellow brothers in color, even there had been a small disagreement that had ended in a power enhanced battle.

"It's the least we can do" Nick agreed with the same logic, shaking hands with the leader (co leader by Hunter's standers) of the ninjas.

"We are having that rematch later right?" The crimson ranger cut in with a wicked grin

"Ready to get your ass kicked so soon?" The fire boy countered

"You're the ones who are outnumbered" Cam pointed out.

"So? We've got a dragon" The green mystic smirked

"You're still going down" The younger thunder promised

Chip gave a 'bring it' hand signal in response.

"You're on dude!" Dustin challenged

The testosterone argument went on, stemmed from that one comment.

"Figures they get sidetracked" Clare rolled her eyes, muttering to herself

Now they were comparing reasons why they would win.

"We've got magic"

"We've got elemental powers"

"We've got wands"

"We've got ninja skills"

"Flying brooms"

"Tsunami cycles"

"Our enemy is a demon"

"Our enemy is Cam's uncle"

"Seriously?"

"Unfortunately"

"That's fucked up"

"We know"

"Giant book of answers"

"Sensei"

"Your Sensei?"

"He knows everything"

"Uh-huh…"

"Alright, most everything"

"Whatever, glass orb to tell of monster attacks"

"We have a computer system"

"Ours is cooler"

"Ours is more reliable"

"Except in a power outage"

"We have a backup generator"

"…."

"Coolest system goes to us"

"Fine, Genie cat"

"Cyber Cam"

"What?"

"He's a cyber hologram of Cam"

"Oh…but we have capes!"

"What do capes do?"

"They're awesome!"

"But they don't DO anything"

"You know you want one"

"….dude, I do"

Finally one of the onlookers decided to intervene as Dustin finished his sentence while looking at Cam begging silently for a ninja cape.

**"GET OUT OF HERE!"** Daggeron roared at them, all of them twitching slightly at the sudden noise.

"NOW!" Clare added fiercely

Then there was a mad rush for the door, not wanting to upset the female again.

"Be back soon!" Chip waved

"BRING THEM BACK, ALL OF THEM!" The witch in training yelling as they exited into the green grass.

Xander sent her two thumbs up, telling her that they would try their best. Noticing, Dustin mirrored the gesture, which spread to the other yellow.

In short, they weren't coming back without them.

From the window, the two adults watched the two teams go back towards town.

"You think they can do it?" The golden knight asked the white witch

"I think they can…"

And as the multicolored boys vanished deeper into the woods, the older woman let out a breath only to breathe in smoke from a burning mixture.

Rushing over to help rid the smell and mess away, she wasn't sure if Daggeron had heard the last part of the sentence.

He did.

"… the question is if they will succeed"

* * *

As he heard the voices and footsteps grow fainter, he prepared himself to go back to the underworld. Imperious and Necrolai were going to be pissed, as usual.

Well the idea of a power ranger team as minions was shot to hell, another failed plan, only this one had never been put into action.

But then again…

Reefside, there was another ranger team there AND the three missing females….if the information he had overheard was accurate.

Another plan started to brew, a smile appearing under his helmet.

This should be interesting…

If the teams were this broken with their females missing, what would it be like if…

"UTHE SASTOS!"

...they were on opposite sides?

* * *

By the time they reached the van, spirits were high and blood was pumping at the thoughts of a combined team of eight rangers going into Kira's territory.

The ninjas were starting to touch on the subject of what they would be facing when entering Reefside. The two teams also planned to make a plan during the ride to where the girls were.

So with some of the details laid out, many more to be figured out, it hit them.

"The van seats six" Cam stated factually, looking at the empty leather seats

The seven absorbed the fact, not sure how to precede, the same thought going through their minds.

"How the hell are we going to do this?"

* * *

**Reviews? Please! **

**I'mmmm bbaaackkkk! **

**Don't kill me please! **

**So: **

**What will Korragg do? **

**How the hell are the boys going to get to Reefside? **

**And what's going on with the girls? **

**FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER! **


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